Tetons

At the upper elevations the general avalanche hazard will be LOW in the early morning hours and will RAPIDLY INCREASE to MODERATE by noon and to CONSIDERABLE in the afternoon or evening. New soft slabs up to two feet in depth formed by strong southwest winds will build in upper elevation starting zones. As these slabs grow in depth and extent on a buried hard melt-freeze crust they will become increasingly sensitive to triggering by humans and to spontaneous release. At the mid elevations these slabs could be triggered on steep northerly aspects underlain by a hard melt-freeze crust. On other mid elevation aspects and at the lower elevations avalanches are unlikely.

The second part of a powerful storm system will affect the Western Wyoming mountains tonight. The heaviset snow is expected between 11 PM and 5 AM with another 5 to 10 inches of additional snow forecast. The snowfall will decrease to scattered snow showers by midday Tuesday and dissipate completely by Tuesday evening. Strong westerly winds are forecast tonight and should begin to relax during the day. Mountain temperatures will remain in the teens to 20's. The general avalanche hazard at the upper elevations and on steep shaded mid elevation terrain is expected to be CONSIDERABLE on Tuesday. New soft slabs up to two feet in depth that lie on a slick buried crust could be easily triggered by humans or release spontaneously. Avalanche activity is not likely on mid and lower elevation terrain where new snow has been deposited on previously bare ground.