Up to a foot of new light density snow fell at the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort during the last 30 hours while Grand Targhee Resort received about six inches. At the higher elevations last night's strong northwest winds created new surface slabs on leeward aspects. These wind slabs lie upon hard old snow surfaces and are likely to be easily triggered by skiers. In areas that received the most new snow these wind slabs could be up to two feet in depth. Some potential remains for these slabs to step down to weak layers of buried faceted snow that reside within the snowpack beneath the recent new snow. Avalanches are unlikely at the lower elevations.
Strong northwest winds have created areas of wind slab one to two feet in depth at the upper elevations and pockets of wind slab up to 18 inches deep at the mid elevations. These slabs lie upon very slick old snow surfaces and are likely to be easily triggered by skiers who venture into steep wind loaded avalanche starting zones and cliff areas.
At the mid and upper elevations layers of weak faceted snow exist in the snowpack beneath the new snow that fell yesterday. Slab avalanches with depths of one to three feet could be human triggered on these buried weak layers, especially by larger triggers such like snowmachines. Areas of thin snow on very steep slopes and in cliff areas are likely trigger points.
The northwest flow will continue to bring some moisture to the region. On Monday skies will be overcast with periods of light snow. Accumulations of several inches are likely at the upper elevations. Temperatures will warm into the 20s. Winds will be westerly at 20 to 25 miles per hour. The general avalanche hazard is expected to be MODERATE in the Greys River/Southwest Trails area, at the upper elevations of the Togwotee Pass/Continental Divide Trails area and at the mid elevations of the Teton Area. It will be CONSIDERABLE at the upper elevations of the Teton area and LOW at the lower elevations of the Teton and Togwotee Pass areas. Humans who venture into steep avalanche terrain could trigger new soft slabs up to two feet in depth and older, denser slabs one to three feet in depth.
