Salt River and Wyoming Ranges

The general avalanche hazard is CONSIDERABLE. New snow to 5 inches overnight added to a foot in the past 48 hours rests on slick crusts on southerly exposures and weak faceted snow on northerly aspects at upper elevations. People will easily trigger soft slabs to 18 inches in depth on avalanche prone slopes. Yesterday, skiers released a full track slide in Mile Long couloir in Grand Teton Park. Other reported slides pulled out wide areas and ran very quickly over long distances which resulted in deep deposition despite some crowns being relatively shallow. In addition, some potential remains for travelers, especially those on snowmachines, to trigger hard slabs up to six feet deep in some higher elevation avalanche paths.

( Discussion is generated from the previous day's afternoon forecast. )Another system will bring periods of heavy snow through Sunday night with 3 to 6 more inches of accumulation by Monday morning. Temperatures will fall to near zero overnight then warm only into the single digits Monday. Winds will continue light and variable through Monday.Despite little wind effect, easily released soft slabs to 18 inches in depth will continue to be likely above 8,500 feet in the Teton and Greys River areas where the General Avalanche Hazard will be COSIDERABLE. Due to slick sun crusts and faceted surfaces from the recent dry spell, triggered slides will pull out wide areas, travel quickly and run far. In addition some potential remains for deep hard slabs up to six feet in depth to be triggered, especially by snowmobiles.In the Continental Divide/Togwotee Pass area the hazard will be MODERATE. Recent new snow has fallen upon well-developed surface hoar and is loading a snowpack with persistent weaknesses at its base. The potential remains for people to trigger deep, hard slabs up to six feet deep in some steep avalanche paths. The failure of these slabs would likely require a larger trigger such as a snow machine or multiple riders or skiers. In addition, new, soft surface slabs to 18 inches in depth, and loose snow sloughs could be triggered on steep, avalanche prone terrain features.