Two day storms totals are around 15 inches with over 1.5 inches of moisture. Conditions remain dangerous. Yesterday morning the WYDOT explosively triggered an avalanche that ran across the highway in Hoback Canyon. Two snowboarders on Teton Pass were caught and buried but not injured. Large human triggered slab avalanches are likely on steep avalanche prone slopes above an elevation of 9,000 feet and possible at the lower elevations. Strong westerly winds continue to load leeward aspects and therefor natural avalanche activity continues to be a possibility. Expert avalanche hazard assessment and route finding skills are essential for safe travel in avalanche terrain today.
Wind slabs formed by southwest to west-northwest winds could be human triggered with depths to two feet on a variety of aspects. Gusty winds will continue to load avalanche starting zones and could cause these wind slabs to release naturally.
Deep persistent slabs, which lie upon a faceted snow/rain crust combination in terrain that held snow from early October continue to be a serious threat. Surviving one of these slides is unlikely. These dangerous slides could be triggered by the weight of a person or release naturally with depths to four feet.
( Discussion is generated from the previous day's afternoon forecast. )A moist zonal flow will bring periods of snow with decreasing intensity. Additional accumulations of five inches are possible overnight with another three inches possible during the day. Temperatures in the mountains will drop into the single digits and teens. Westerly winds will decrease to 15 to 20 with gusts to 25 miles per hour.Conditions will remain dangerous. Surface slabs one to three feet in depth are likely to be triggered by humans in steep avalanche prone terrain at the mid and upper elevations. At the upper elevations deep persistent slabs with depths to six feet could be human triggered or release naturally on east through north to west aspects. A human caught in one of these destructive, deep slabs would not likely survive. Pockets of surface slab up to two feet in depth could be human triggered in steep wind loaded terrain at the lower elevations. The general avalanche hazard is expected to be CONSIDERABLE at the mid and upper elevations and MODERATE at the lower elevations.
