Salt River and Wyoming Ranges

At the higher elevations pockets of slab up to two feet in depth lie upon a buried layer of weak surface hoar and a hard crust. Backcountry travelers could trigger these slabs in steep, avalanche prone terrain. New snow accompanied by strong southwest winds has increased the load on these persistent slabs. Avalanches are unlikely below an elevation of 8,500 feet where the snow is generally less than a foot deep.

( Discussion is generated from the previous day's afternoon forecast. )A fast moving storm system with very strong winds will move over the area tonight. Two to four inches of new snow are expected in the mountains overnight. Some higher elevation terrain may pick up as much as six inches by morning. This snow will be driven by strong west winds with gusts to near 70 miles per hour and falling temperatures.On Thursday skies will be mostly cloudy with a diminishing chance of snow showers. Temperatures will be in the teens. Winds will be west to west-northwest at 10 to 20 miles per hour.The general avalanche hazard is expected to be MODERATE at the upper elevations and LOW at the mid and lower elevations. At the upper elevations pockets of stiff new wind slab up to a foot deep are expected to form on leeward aspects. Some potential may also persist for humans to trigger isolated pockets of older dense slabs up to 18 inches deep that lie upon buried surface hoar and hard crusts in north facing upper elevation avalanche paths.