Avalanche forecast

Salt River and Wyoming Ranges

Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
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Out of date — this forecast expired 8 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Backcountry travelers are encouraged to make conservative decisions and to be content with cautious route selection as DANGEROUS avalanche conditions continue. Persistent weak snow layers lie at the interface between a dry period and when snow started to fall a week ago as well as deeper in the snowpack. These instabilities could be triggered at all elevations today and have the potential to be large above 7500 feet. These slabs could be very touchy and fail upon approach or stubborn and not fail until they are tracked several times and a particularly weak spot in the snowpack is touched. New snow and west winds could also form shallow wind slabs at the higher elevations as the day progresses.

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    1–2

    The presence of a single skier or rider has the potential to trigger slab avalanches in steep avalanche terrain. At higher elevations, slabs could run on sun crusts and surface hoar on southerly aspects and on faceted snow on northerly aspects to depths of one to three feet. At lower elevations slabs to eighteen inches could be triggered on a snowpack with weak structure. These slabs could be soft or hard and once initiated, could entrain deeper snowpack layers. Additional snowfall will increase the load on these weaknesses, therefore increasing their sensitivity today.

Avalanche Discussion

( Discussion is generated from the previous day's afternoon forecast. )The incoming system will bring snowfall to the area by midnight with a few inches expected by sunrise. Steady snowfall is to continue through the daylight hours and the evening. Five to ten inches is expected by midnight with higher amounts expected in the upper elevations of the Tetons. West winds are to average near twenty to twenty-five miles per hour while mountain temperatures have highs in the mid-teens. The general avalanche hazard is expected to remain Considerable above 7500 feet and Moderate below that elevation. At all elevations, backcountry riders and skiers have the potential to trigger slab avalanches involving persistent weak layers of snow involving surface hoar and in many areas profoundly faceted layers. These slabs could be released remotely or once a person is on a slab and finds a weak point on the slope. In addition to this existing threat(that will become more sensitive with additional loading), new wind slabs will begin to form on the current snow surface. These slabs will increase in size and sensitivity as the day progresses and are likely to be sensitive in steep terrain by the afternoon.

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