Salt River and Wyoming Ranges

Lawinenprobleme

• 

  Wind Slabs

  N

  NE

  E

  SE

  S

  SW

  W

  NW

  • Hochgebirge
  • Waldgrenze
  • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze

  Wahrscheinlichkeit

  Likely

  Größe

  1–2

  You are most likely to trigger a wind slab avalanche on exposed upper elevation terrain where recent snow and wind have built slabs 2-4 ft thick. This problem exists around exposed ridges, rocky features, crossloaded terrain features and gullies. Watch for shooting cracks and obvious pillows and drifts. Feel for changes in density around these features as you travel. The most recent snow has less wind effect and may be hiding wind slabs that were built on Wednesday and Thursday. Watch for wind slabs in exposed terrain even if visual clues are absent.  Trench or dig down to verify the existence of slabs.

  Additional Discussion: Sunshine and warming temperatures

  Watch for rapidly changing conditions on sunny slopes when the sun comes out and begins to heat up. Look for clues on steep southerly slopes that indicate instability. Rollerballs, collapsing and shooting cracks are indications of avalanche hazard. Watch out for overhead hazards and terrain traps below you.

   

  

• 

  Persistent Slabs

  N

  NE

  E

  SE

  S

  SW

  W

  NW

  • Hochgebirge
  • Waldgrenze
  • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze

  Wahrscheinlichkeit

  Possible

  Größe

  1.5–2.5

  You are most likely to trigger an avalanche in a buried weak layer on thin, rocky steep slopes on west through north through east aspects. In the last few days, the weak layers that were buried on February 2nd received a large increase in loading. There is a lot of snowpack variability throughout the zone and weak layers are buried 2-4 feet deep, or deeper. We have not seen activity on this layer in some time in the deeper areas like the Salt River and Snake River zones and the likelihood of triggering is trending downward. With the large recent load, sensitivity may be currently heightened. Convexities and wind-affected thin areas should be carefully considered. Give yourself some margin around steep slopes today as we see how the snowpack adjusts to all this weight.

  The deep persistent slab problem was removed from the problem list today. We have not seen activity here in some time and it continues to get buried deeper. There are still persistent weak layers in the snowpack that are highlighted above that should remain on your radar, especially with lots of recent loading.