Salt River and Wyoming Ranges

The general avalanche hazard is CONSIDERABLE and will rise during the day. The winter weather regime that brought 70 to 80 inches of snow to The Wyoming and Salt River ranges since early February will rapidly change today. Clear skies and strong sunshine will further weaken the unstable snowpack increasing the hazard through the day. Large, natural avalanches from the higher peaks are possible in steep avalanche paths and the chance for natural and human triggered deep, dangerous slides will increase. Wet slides will be possible in steep, sunlit areas. Excellent terrain evaluation skills and a conservative approach to terrain choices are essential for safe travel in avalanche terrain today.

( Discussion is generated from the previous day's afternoon forecast. )Some light snowfall will continue overnight with generally light accumulations expected. On Sunday the winter climate regime that we have experienced during the past 25 days will rapidly transition to a spring like regime. Skies will clear and the warming trend that began last night will continue. Skies will become clear and temperatures will rise into the 30s.This quick transition to a significantly warmer and dryer environment will cause unstable conditions as our winter snowpack struggles to adjust to these rapid changes. The general avalanche hazard is expected to be CONSIDERABLE during this period of significant transition and could increase to HIGH during the day as skies clear and temperatures warm. Large, natural avalanches from the highest peaks in the Teton Range are possible. In steep active avalanche paths, humans could trigger dangerous deep slab avalanches. Wet slides are possible in steep sunlit cliff areas. Excellent terrain evaluation skills and a conservative approach to terrain choices will be essential for safe travel in avalanche terrain.