Highway maintenance crews planned to close Teton Pass and Highway 89 just south of Jackson for short periods today to protect the roads from avalanches by blasting slopes above them, the state Department of Transportation said Thursday.

Highway 22 over Teton Pass was scheduled to close at 3 a.m. today to allow crews to do their work. Crews typically use a variety of explosives on as many as six avalanche paths above the road to reduce the threat of snow slides.

Closures typically last a few hours but could be longer if avalanches reach the road and block it. Overnight parking restrictions will be enforced at the pass summit and travelers and backcountry forest users should plan accordingly, transportation officials said in a statement.

At noon, the department will close Highway 89 just south of Jackson to control a slope known as the Gravel Pit slide at mile post 151.

The closures come on the heels of storms that have brought more than 4 feet of snow to the mountains in the last week. Bridger-Teton National Forest avalanche forecasters on Thursday evening predicted that the danger today would be considerable, meaning human-triggered avalanches are likely. At low elevations, forecasters predicted low danger.

The latest pulse of storms brought up to 6 inches to the mountains Thursday. That raised the water content of the snowpack to 92 percent of normal around Jackson Hole, according to the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Two locations above Jackson Hole registered above average — Two Ocean Plateau and Togwotee Pass. At Togwotee, water content was at 111 percent.

Two Ocean Plateau — in the Teton Wilderness and southern Yellowstone National Park — had water content 133 percent of normal.

An updated avalanche forecast for the Tetons, and separate ones for Togwotee and the Greys River areas, are available at www.jhavalanche.org or by calling 733-2664.

Forecasters said snow showers will decrease Saturday afternoon as drier air moves into the area. The avalanche hazard will slowly decrease.