Sunshine and warming temperatures will increase the hazard as the day progresses. At the higher elevations pockets of wind slab up to two feet in depth will become increasingly sensitive to human triggers as the day warms. Shallow, wet loose slides are possible on steep sunlit slopes during the heat of the day. In isolated areas the warming temperatures will also increase the potential for snowmobilers to trigger dangerous hard slab avalanches.
Deep hard slabs could be triggered by large loads in isolated areas where weak faceted snow persist near the base of the snowpack. These dangerous slabs could have depths to five feet and will become more sensitive to human triggers during the warmest portion of the day. Cornices are huge and could fail. Cornice failures could trigger one of these deep slab avalanches.
Wet surface slabs up to two feet in depth are possible on steep slopes after significant warming has occurred. These slabs could be human triggered or release naturally after snow surfaces have softened.
Abundant sunshine and warming temperatures could cause wet loose slides on very steep slopes on a variety of aspects. At the upper elevations these loose snow slides could trigger wet slab avalanches.
( Discussion is generated from the previous day's afternoon forecast. )Conditions will remain dry and unseasonably warm overnight and into the afternoon on Wednesday, before clouds begin to increase as a weak cold front passes to the north and east. Mostly clear skies tonight will allow air temperatures to drop into the upper 20s to low 30s. Snow surfaces are expected to freeze by daybreak but soften during the morning hours. Temperatures on Wednesday will once again rise into the 40s and 50s in the mountains. Southwest winds will veer towards the west and increase from 15 to 25 miles per hour with higher gusts ahead of the approaching front. Scattered mountain rain and snow showers are possible during the late afternoon and early evening hours in the Teton Range and along the Continental Divide. The general avalanche hazard is expected to be mostly low in the early morning hours and increase to CONSIDERABLE at the higher elevations after snow surfaces soften. Wet slabs up to two feet in depth and shallow wet loose slides are likely in steep terrain. Cornice failures are possible and have some potential to trigger large, deep wet slab avalanches in isolated areas.
