Tetons

Eighteen inches of new snow with 1.5 inches of moisture have fallen in the past 48 hours at the upper elevations. Strong southwest winds have formed DANGEROUS new soft slabs up to three feet in depth. Yesterday new slabs to 30 inches in depth were easily triggered by skiers on hard crust and weak old snow surfaces. Some of these slabs were observed to step down to buried weak layers lower in the snowpack. Three ski patrollers were caught and carried in separate incidents during avalanche hazard reduction efforts at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Natural avalanches are likely today and could descend into lower elevation runout zones. With more snow and wind in the forecast the hazard will increase during the day. TRAVEL IN AVALANCHE TERRAIN IS NOT RECOMMENDED TODAY.