Significant snow has fallen in the Wyoming and Salt River Ranges. Skiers and riders could trigger soft slabs today in steep avalanche terrain, particularly where wind loading has been the most significant. These slabs will be most sensitive at the higher elevations where any moving snow could quickly involve large volumes of powder. Cautious route finding and careful snowpack evaluation is advised. A slight chance also remains for a large trigger to cause failure of weak snow near the base of the snowpack, resulting in large to very large avalanches. Avalanches below 7500 feet are unlikely today.
Southwest winds during peak snowfall that have been veering to the northwest have formed soft slabs with depths to two feet in terrain above 8000 feet. These slabs could be human triggered this morning and may increase in sensitivity in areas where they are rapidly warmed by direct sunlight and increasing temperatures.
Although becoming less likely, a slight chance still exists to trigger deep hard slabs involving weak snow near the base of the snowpack. If triggered these slabs could have crown depths of 3 to 7 feet. Larger triggers such as a cornice drop, a moving wind slab or a snowmachine hitting a thin spot on a slope may be required to trigger such an event. Involvement in one of these slides would likely be fatal.
( Discussion is generated from the previous day's afternoon forecast. )Snow is to fall through most of the night. The heaviest snowfall is expected by midnight. By sunrise up to ten inches of snow could have fallen since noon today. Winds are to veer from the southwest to northwest before 8am with averages between ten and twenty miles per hour. Temperature are to drop to the low teens overnight and rise into the mid-twenties during the day. The general avalanche hazard is expected to be moderate above 7500 feet, although, if stronger winds or more snow is received than expected the hazard could raise to Considerable at the high elevations. New wind slabs with depths to two feet could be found in steep loaded terrain. These slabs could be triggered by riders or skiers, particularly near cliff edges and on convex rollovers. Deep slabs, although slowly becoming more unlikely, could still fail. Initiation of one of the deep hard slabs is likely to take a large trigger such as a falling cornice, or a snowmachine impacting a weak spot on a slope.
