Tetons

The new snow that fell on Wednesday lies upon weak layers of surface hoar, areas of hard crust and a base of weak faceted snow. West to northeast winds during the storm and strong northwest winds overnight have drifted the new snow onto leeward aspects along the highest ridge crest. Several small soft slab avalanches were observed yesterday in very steep avalanche starting zones along the crest and on the west slope of the Teton Range. Humans who venture into steep avalanche prone terrain could trigger pockets of wind slab 6 to 14 inches deep or loose snow sluffs.

Overnight temperatures will drop to near 10 degrees in the mountains and to -15 in the valleys. On Saturday skies will be partly cloudy. Temperatures will warm well into the 20s in the mountains and into the mid teens in the valleys. Winds will be northwesterly at 5 to 15 miles per hour.The general avalanche hazard is expected to be LOW, however isolated pockets of wind slab up to a foot in depth exist and low hazard does not mean there is no hazard. Humans who venture into very steep avalanche prone terrain could trigger a slab avalanche. Extra caution is required in cliff areas, above terrain traps and in extreme terrain.