Salt River and Wyoming Ranges

The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory through this evening, and since Thursday morning, there have been over 10 inches of snow with more than a half-inch of water. The continued additional load on buried persistent weak layers could increase the sensitivity to triggers, and it remains possible for riders and skiers to trigger large persistent slab avalanches resulting in dangerous conditions. In regards to the new snow, backcountry travelers could easily trigger shallow wind slabs and snow sluffs on steep slopes. Warming temperatures throughout the day could cause the surface snow to become more reactive. Careful evaluation of the snowpack and terrain will be essential to safely travel through avalanche terrain today.

( Discussion is generated from the previous day's afternoon forecast. )As the leading edge of a trough moves into Nevada and Utah, precipitation will draw to the south. Snowfall will continue across the region overnight and into tomorrow. The low-pressure system is only expected to affect the southern portion of the forecast area, where the National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for tomorrow. The Salt River and Wyoming Ranges could receive 6 to 10 inches of snow. While in the Togwotee Pass and in the Teton forecast areas, snowfall is expected to be light with about an inch of accumulation through tomorrow. Winds across the region are expected to remain light and variable, and mountain temperatures will start in the teens rising into the twenties. As the storm impacts the Grey’s River area, the additional load on buried persistent weak layers could increase the avalanche hazard causing these persistent slabs to become more sensitive to triggers. It remains possible for riders and skiers to trigger avalanches, up to five feet in depth, in steep avalanche-prone terrain. Due to the large size of these avalanches, dangerous avalanche conditions exist, and the avalanche hazard is expected to be Considerable. Across all the forecast areas, shallow wind slabs 1 to 2 feet in depth and loose snow sluffs involving the new snow remains a concern on steep slopes.In the Teton and Togwotee Pass areas, the avalanche hazard is expected to be Moderate. On Togwotee Pass, persistent slab avalanches, with slab depth of 2 to 4 feet, could be triggered by riders and skiers. While in the Tetons, there is still some concern with the persistent slab in areas where the snowpack is shallow, the15 inches of new snow is more likely to get backcountry travelers into trouble.