Tetons

The mountains received 4 to 7 inches of new snow by 5am. Up to three more inches are possible before 1pm. At the higher elevations this new snow has accumulated on crusts, settled old snow surfaces and areas of bare ground. Travel on skis, sleds, or snowboards is limited by our shallow early season snow depths and is hazardous due to the potential to hit buried rocks and other obstacles. Any avalanches that occur will only involve this new snow and would fail on the new/old snow interface. Southwest to west winds may be forming small pockets of wind slab 6 to 12 inches in depth on the leeward side of the higher ridge crests. Human involvement in steep terrain with with a small slab avalanche could result in significant trauma. Avalanches hazards are not likely in areas where last night's snow has accumulated on bare ground.

Some lingering snow showers are possible overnight and are likely to favor the southern portion of our forecast region. Skies will be partly to mostly sunny on Monday. It will be colder. In the mountains overnight lows will be in the teens and low 20’s. Daytime highs will rise into the 20’s and 30’s. Westerly winds will back towards the southwest ahead of the next moisture pulse and be light at 5 to 15 miles per hour with some higher gusts. Avalanche hazards will be isolated and limited to steep terrain features at the higher elevations where the new snow lies on old snow surfaces that formed earlier in the season. Tomorrow’s sunshine may cause some small, loose snow slides that only involve the new snow to release from cliff areas. West to southwest winds may have formed isolated pockets of shallow wind slab less than a foot in depth on the leeward aspects of the higher ridge crests. Travel on skis, sleds, or snowboards is limited by our shallow early season snow depths and is hazardous due to the potential to hit buried rocks and other obstacles. Due to the shallow snow depths any human interaction with an avalanche in steep terrain presents the potential for traumatic injury. The general avalanche hazard is expected to be low above an elevation on 9,000 feet. Very shallow snow depths preclude avalanche hazards in terrain below that elevation.