Avalanche forecast

Tetons

Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Out of date — this forecast expired 9 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Skiers and riders venturing into very steep, wind-loaded terrain at the mid and upper elevations could trigger pockets of recently developed wind slab. As the day progresses, daytime warming and periods of sunshine could make these slabs more susceptible to failure and bring about the chance for shallow wet slides. Warming temperatures will also increase the likelihood of cornice failures along high elevation ridgelines. Temperatures at the lower elevations remained above freezing overnight, and the chance for isolated pockets of shallow wet slides cannot be entirely ruled out.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    2

    Last week, very strong southwesterly to westerly ridgetop winds combined with sustained snowfall to form dense wind slabs in leeward terrain. In very steep avalanche-prone terrain, couloirs and cliff areas above 8,500 feet that have been recently wind loaded, skiers and riders could trigger these slabs with depths ranging from one to three feet. These slides will be more likely to occur in terrain where snow surfaces have remained dry.

Avalanche Discussion

A northwest flow will bring variable clouds and a chance of scattered snow showers to the mountains. Those showers will be most numerous over the northern portion of our forecast region and Yellowstone National Park. Temperatures will drop into the teens and 20s overnight and rise into the 30s in the mountains and into the 40s in the valleys during the day. West to west-northwest winds will decrease to 15 to 20 with gusts to 30 miles per hour. The general avalanche hazard is expected to be MODERATE above an elevation of 8,500 feet and be LOW below that elevation. At the higher elevations there remains a chance for skiers and riders to trigger large dense slab avalanches in steep, wind loaded avalanche prone terrain features. These dense slab avalanches could be one to four feet deep and are expected to be more sensitive to larger triggers like snowmobiles and cornice failures. Cornices are huge and could break due to the weight of a single person.

Regions covered