JACKSON, Wyo. — Warming temperatures and strong solar radiation will destabilize snow surfaces and cause wet loose avalanches on solar aspects, according to the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center’s forecast for today.
Above 8,000 feet, temperatures are expected to warm into the upper 30s and 40s.
Today, it will be possible for the weight of a person to trigger a large slide. These slides could be encountered above 8,000 feet on east, north, and west-facing aspects and seem to favor slopes that had a shallow snowpack prior to the March 5 snowfall.
This week, persistent layers of crusts and facets buried one to four feet deep have resulted in large avalanches in the Tetons. Many of these slides were known repeater slide paths from the early January avalanche cycle.
On Thursday, multiple avalanches were triggered in the Tetons. One, in the Game Creek drainage on the western slope of the Tetons, resulted in a fatality.
Since March 5, a series of weather systems brought 30 to 40 inches of snowfall with close to three inches of water at the upper elevation weather station in the Teton forecast area. This snow has formed into a slab and in many areas lies over weak layers of crusts and facets. Persistent avalanches can also be triggered from below a slope, so it is advised to stay out from under avalanche terrain today.
More information on the avalanche forecast is available here.
