Happy Thanksgiving. At the upper elevations of the Tetons, there is a potential for backcountry riders or skiers to trigger pockets of slab that were formed by southwest to northwest winds. Avalanches are unlikely at the mid elevations and low elevations lack sufficient coverage for an avalanche rating. Caution is advised today as many terrain hazards lurk just below the snow surface and even small avalanches could result in serious injury.
Soft wind slabs lie above 9000 feet in very steep terrain near ridge crests and peaks. These slabs will present as wind loaded features and could have depths to over a foot.
Tonight through mid-afternoon on Friday is to be mostly clear with overnight lows in the teens at the high elevations and in the single digits at the low elevations as a weak temperature inversion develops. Mountains are to see highs in the upper twenties while valleys reach into the upper thirties to low forties. West winds are to have averages between ten and twenty miles per hour. The avalanche danger will be Low in western Wyoming on Friday. The snowpack is mostly stable and the chance for avalanche activity is limited to small isolated pockets of slab in and around cliff bands at the upper elevations of the Tetons. Terrain below 7500 feet in the Tetons and 8500 in the Southwest Trails and Togwotee Pass areas is not yet rated due to insufficient snow depths.
