Tetons

During the past 30 hours up to 15 inches of new snow has fallen at the higher elevations. Strong south to northwest winds with gusts to 74 miles per hour accompanied this snowfall. New soft slabs up to 30 inches in depth have formed on lee aspects and lie upon older dense slabs one to three feet deep and a variety of crusts. At the upper elevations human triggered slab avalanches up to 30 inches deep are likely in steep avalanche prone terrain and could step down to depths of four feet. Natural avalanche activity is possible and would become likely if skies clear. Once released these slabs could run into the mid elevations. Pockets of soft surface slab up to 20 inches deep could also be human triggered in steep, wind loaded mid elevation avalanche starting zones. Avalanches are unlikely at the lower elevations.

Skies will slowly clear overnight. Temperatures will drop into the upper single digits. On Saturday skies will be mostly clear. Temperatures will rise into the 20s and 30s in the mountains and into the 40s in the valleys. Winds will diminish to around ten miles per hour and back to the south.At the upper elevations (9,000 to 10,500) the general avalanche hazard is expected to be MODERATE in the early morning hours and rapidly increase to CONSIDERABLE. Dangerous slabs up to five deep lie upon a variety of crusts. The potential for these slabs to release naturally or be triggered by a human will significantly increase as the day warms. At the mid elevations the general avalanche hazard is expected to be LOW in the morning and increase to MODERATE during the day. Travel on or under avalanche prone slopes is not advised after significant warming has occurred. At the lower elevations the general avalanche hazard is expected to be LOW.