Tetons

At the mid and upper elevations pockets of surface slab one to three feet in depth exist and could be human triggered in steep wind loaded avalanche starting zones. In some areas weak layers persist deep in the snowpack. Lingering potential remains for humans, especailly those on snow machines, to trigger hard slabs up to five feet deep. Avalanches are unlikely at the lower elevations.

Periods of light snow with accumulations of 1 to 3 inches are expected tonight. A winter storm watch has been issued for the period of Saturday afternoon through Sunday afternoon. Snowfall will become heavy at times and in conjunction with strong winds should cause white-out conditions in open areas. Snowfall amounts of 8 to 16 inches in the mountains and 4 to 8 inches in the valleys are possible by Sunday evening. Temperatures will be in the single digits above zero to the teens. The general avalanche hazard will be MODERATE during the morning hours. Strong winds and heavy snowfall could rapidly increase the hazard to CONSIDERABLE in the late afternoon. New sensitive soft slabs will form on leeward aspects. If significant loading occurs these slabs could build enough volume to spontaneously release or step down to buried weak layers by evening.