Six to nine inches of new snow with up to an inch of water has accumulated in the mountains since yesterday morning. This precipitation has been accompanied by strong westerly winds. Temperatures have increased overnight and created an upside down snow profile. Pockets of dense wind slab formed by strong westerly winds lie upon slick old snow surfaces. These slabs could be human triggered at the upper elevations and in isolated pockets at the mid elevations. Warm temperatures and a chance for rain will create the potential for shallow wet loose slides on steep banks and road cuts at the lower elevations.
At the upper elevations pockets of dense wind slab up to 18 inches in depth could be human triggered in steep wind loaded avalanche starting zones and cliff areas. At the mid elevations isolated pockets of dense wind slab up to 12 inches in depth could be human triggered in similar terrain.
The moist northwest flow is forecast to decrease overnight and result in diminishing snowfall and partial clearing on Tuesday. Additional accumulations of two to five inches are possible at the higher elevations. Temperatures will continue to be mild. Daytime highs are expected to rise into the 30s in the mountains and rise to near 40 degrees in the valleys. West-southwest winds will continue at speeds of 25 to 30 with gusts to 45 miles per hour along the highest ridge crests.Dense slabs with depths from 10 to 30 inches lie upon slick old snow surfaces and could be triggered by humans who venture into steep wind loaded avalanche starting zones. The deeper slabs can be found in the Greys River/Southwest Trails area. In the Continental Divide/Togwottee Pass area persistent slabs with depths to three feet can also be human triggered above an elevation of 9,000 feet in steep active avalanche paths that face north through east to south. The general avalanche hazard is expected to be MODERATE in the Teton and Togwotee Pass areas and CONSIDERABLE in the Greys River area.
