Since late Wednesday night, a system has brought over a foot of snow to the Tetons. This storm was accompanied by strong southwest winds, particularly during its onset Wednesday night into early Thursday morning. Wind slabs lie at all elevations and can be triggered today by skiers or riders particularly in very steep terrain. Deeper in the snowpack, the chance continues for avalanches to occur involving weak faceted snow. Over an inch of snow has fallen on the snowpack, making these older instabilities more susceptible to failure. More snow expected today and Saturday will further load the surface slabs as well as the deep instabilities. Conservative decision making is essential today.
Several days of southwest to northwest winds have created areas of surface slab. These slabs could have depths of one to two feet. These slabs could be human triggered in steep avalanche starting zones and cliff areas.
Hard slabs, with depths to four feet, lie upon persistent weak layers of faceted snow on a variety of aspects. A snowmobile, the weight of a single skier or the release of wind slab could trigger one of these hard slabs. Previous tracks and the lack of recent avalanche activity are not indications of stability.
( Discussion is generated from the previous day's afternoon forecast. )Snowfall is to diminish this evening with another storm expected to bring additional snowfall by mid-morning. Four to eight inches could fall by Friday evening. Winds are to be Westerly with fifteen to twenty five mile per hour averages. Temps should rise during the day from the single digits to the upper teens. The general avalanche hazard is expected to be Considerable above 9000 feet, Moderate between 7500 feet and 9000 feet and Low below 7500 feet. Wind slabs lie at high elevations and could be triggered in steep terrain with depths from one to three feet. Once initiated they could release deeper instabilities to fail near the ground. A remote chance also lingers for backcountry travelers to trigger these deep instabilities that would likely carry severe consequences. The timing and intensity of this next storm may affect these predicted ratings and it is recommended to check the morning bulletin for updated information.
