Togwotee Pass

The General Avalanche Hazard is CONSIDERABLE. New snow has placed additional load on a weak snowpack. Although snow near the surface is dense enough to support a snowmobile or skier, providing a feeling of stability, the lower half of the snowpack is faceted and slides to the ground could be triggered in steep avalanche terrain today. Yesterday, a 5' slab was triggered to the ground on a NE aspect near Togwotee Pass.

( Discussion is generated from the previous day's afternoon forecast. )Snow should be on the increase across the northwest mountains tonight and continue into Thursday. Snow could be heavy at times tonight with 5 to 8 inches possible across the mountains and 2 to 5 inches in the valleys. Another 2 to 4 inches in the mountains and 1 to 2 inches are expected to fall during the day. The general avalanche hazard is expected to increase to CONSIDERABLE with the additional load of this new snow. New soft slabs will form on leeward aspects upon existing surface slabs and are likely to be easily triggered. In the Continental Divide/Togwotee Pass and Southwest Trails/Greys River areas deep slab instabilities persist in addition to surface slab concerns. Dangerous deep slabs to the ground could be triggered on steep slopes that have a well developed basal layer of weak faceted snow.