Salt River and Wyoming Ranges

The general avalanche hazard is MODERATE. Pockets of soft, surface slab up to 18 inches deep and loose snow sloughs could be human triggered on steep slopes. Older hard slabs up to three feet deep lie upon a base of depth hoar that persists at the base of the snowpack. Some potential may remain for humans, especially those on snowmachines, to trigger a deep hard slab in very steep avalanche starting zones.

( Discussion is generated from the previous day's afternoon forecast. )A fast moving upper level trough and cold front will move over the region tonight. This system will bring three to five inches of new snow to the mountains overnight and another two to three inches of snow to the region on Saturday. Temperatures will drop into the single digits tonight and only rise into the teens on Saturday. Winds are forecast to be light at 10 to 20 miles per hour and veer from the southwest to the northwest.Areas of soft surface slab and areas of loose snow lie upon slick old snow surfaces and are expected to be sensitive to human triggers on steep slopes and in cliff areas. As the depth of the loose snow and the soft slabs increases the consequences of triggering a loose snow or soft slab avalanche become more severe. Some potential may also persist for humans to trigger hard slabs up to three feet in depth in areas with a thinner snowack. The general avalanche hazard is expected to be MODERATE. Caution is advised on and beneath steep slopes.