At the mid and upper elevations, the possibility continues for skiers and riders to trigger slab avalanches involving weak faceted snow that was buried in late November. These slabs may fail after a slope has already been tracked when a particularly weak spot is hit or by larger loads such as groups of skiers or snow machines. Snowpack evaluation may not provide the information needed to determine slope stability, therefore cautious route finding and decision making is essential. Avalanches are unlikely below 7500 feet except in isolated pockets in steep loaded gullies. Yesterday morning a recent, large, natural avalanche was observed on the east face of the Grand Teton at an elevation of 13000 feet (a picture is on the website).
A problematic layer of faceted snow lies throughout all aspects above 8000 feet. In some terrain this faceted snow is further complicated by crusts, particularly on solar aspects. The soft slabs that lie over this weakness may fail with depths of one to three feet. New snow will slightly increase the sensitivity of this hazard.
Some areas of light snowfall and snow flurries are possible overnight. It should be dryer on Tuesday. Skies are forecast to be mostly sunny in the southern portions of our forecast area and partly sunny in the northern portions. Westerly winds will be light with some gustier conditions on the higher peaks. Temperatures will remain in the single digits and teens.The general avalanche hazard will continue to be MODERATE above an elevation of 7,500 feet and LOW below that elevation. At the mid and upper elevations slab avalanches could be triggered by the weight of a single person on steep slopes. Due to the fickle nature of this type of instability a suspect slope may not fail until after it has been crossed by multiple skiers and riders.
