Backcountry travellers could trigger recently formed soft slabs in steep wind loaded terrain terrain at the high elevations on a variety of aspects. Also at these elevations, a slight chance exists to trigger very large avalanches involving deeply buried weaknesses within the snowpack. At the mid and low elevations, avalanches are unlikely except for in small, isolated pockets in very steep terrain.
At the upper elevations soft slabs could be triggered with depths to two feet in steep wind loaded terrain. Winds veered from the southwest to northwest during the recent snowfall and have continued to veer to the northeast overnight.
Persistent deep slabs remain a concern in avalanche prone terrain above an elevation of 9,000 feet that faces east through north to west. Although the likelihood of triggering one of these dangerous deep slabs is low, the consequences would likely be fatal. The release of one of these destructive slab avalanches is more likely with larger triggers, such as snowmobiles or cornice drops. Previous tracks are not an indication of stability. These deep slab avalanches could exceed six feet in depth. Snowpack evaluation is essential to properly manage this concern.
The arctic air dominating the area will cause very cold conditions on Friday, particularly in the morning when temperatures are to be near thirty below at the low elevations. Lows at higher elevations near fifteen below are expected. Northwest to west winds with fifteen to twenty mile per hour averages will cause wind chill values to drop to levels that warrant consideration before travelling in the backcountry. The avalanche hazard above 9000 feet will be rated as Moderate in the Teton and Togwotee pass areas and Considerable in the Southwest Trails/Greys River area. Recently formed slabs could be human triggered in steep wind loaded areas. These slabs will be more prevalent, more sensitive and have greater depths in the Southwest Trails area due to the nearly two feet of snow that was received there. There, slab depths could reach three feet while slabs in the other areas are expected to be a foot or less. The possibility of triggering very large avalanches involving the deep weak persistent layer also continues.
