Tetons

The snowpack is mostly stable. At the upper elevations, skiers and riders venturing into very steep avalanche terrain might be able to trigger an isolated pocket of slab. While small, these avalanches could have serious consequences on hanging snow fields and in cliff areas. Mountain temperatures are starting out 5 to 10 degrees higher than yesterday morning, and the valleys are around 20 degrees warmer. If mostly sunny skies prevail into the midday, these isolated pockets of slab could become more susceptible to failure on sunlit aspects, and the chance for shallow wet loose slides could also develop on sun affected slopes.

A cold front will move through the region tonight and into Sunday from the northwest to the southeast. Snowfall intensity will be highest during frontal passage. Snow showers will begin to taper off in the Tetons and Togwotee Pass by midday followed by the Southwest Trails area later in the afternoon. Overnight lows in the mountains will be in the mid-teens before rising into the low 20s. Ridgetop winds will veer to the northeast and decrease to 10 to 15 miles per hour.Depending on the amount of new snow and the strength of the wind, the general avalanche hazard could increase to Moderate in the mountains on Sunday. Up there, skiers and riders could trigger small pockets of newly developed wind slab and loose snow sloughs in steep, avalanche prone terrain. The likelihood of triggering one of these avalanches will decrease with a drop in elevation, and avalanche activity will be unlikely at the lower elevations. In the Togwotee Pass and Southwest Trails forecast zones, a remote chance may remain for high marking snowmobilers to trigger a large slab avalanche above 9,000 feet.