Salt River and Wyoming Ranges

Problèmes avalancheux

• 

  Wind Slabs

  N

  NE

  E

  SE

  S

  SW

  W

  NW

  • Alpin
  • Limite forestière
  • Sous la limite forestière

  Probabilité

  Unlikely

  Taille

  1–2

  Wind slabs up to 3 feet in depth still linger and may become easier to trigger as the day heats up. While winds have backed off recently, the slabs that were formed throughout the week are still a hazard. These avalanches have the potential to step down and trigger a larger persistent slab avalanche. 

  Cornice Fall: We often see cornices fail during big warm-ups in the spring. Today’s weather forecast is likely to destabilize the large cornices that have formed throughout the season. The early March snow and wind rapidly added to existing cornices and built new ones. Cornices often break further back than expected. Give these hazards a wide margin today, being on top of our underneath cornices is not recommended. Check out this observation highlighting recent Cornice Falls. 

  

• 

  Loose Wet

  N

  NE

  E

  SE

  S

  SW

  W

  NW

  • Alpin
  • Limite forestière
  • Sous la limite forestière

  Probabilité

  Possible

  Taille

  1

  Wet loose avalanches are the result of warming snow surfaces. They can run long distances on lower-angle terrain and are most common on aspects impacted by the sun. The weather today is expected to be warm and sunny. Monitor snow surfaces and avoid slopes that are being destabilized by thawing. As rocks and trees heat up, wet loose avalanches will increase in likelihood. 

  

• 

  Persistent Slabs

  N

  NE

  E

  SE

  S

  SW

  W

  NW

  • Alpin
  • Limite forestière
  • Sous la limite forestière

  Probabilité

  Possible

  Taille

  2–3

  Persistent slab avalanches continue to be most likely triggered in areas where the snowpack is thinnest; steep, rocky and wind impacted terrain should be suspect. These layers often struggle with big weather events. The recent snow and wind added a lot of weight to the buried weak layers and today’s rapid warming should raise concerns. This time of year we generally see persistent weak layers become more stable, however this is a slow process and large, destructive avalanches on these layers continue to be a possibility. Weak snow that formed in January is buried 3-5+ feet beneath a firm slab at middle and upper elevations in the Salt and Snake River ranges. Persistent weak layers are closer to the surface in the drier parts of this forecast zone and at lower elevations.