Forecast - Utah Avalanche Center

Forecast for the Provo Area Mountains

Issued by Drew Hardesty on
Wednesday morning, January 29, 2025

Areas of MODERATE avalanche danger can still be found in the upper elevations for recent and old slabs of wind drifted snow. Remember that terrain amplifies your risk in the no-fall zones. In very steep rocky terrain - or areas that have avalanched previously and now been reloaded - it is still possible to trigger a slab avalanche failing on sugary, faceted snow.

Loose dry and loose wet sluffs can also be expected today on northerly and southerly aspects, respectively. Otherwise, many slopes have a LOW avalanche danger.

Low

Moderate

Considerable

High

Extreme

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Special Announcements

Join the UAC at Deer Valley on January 30th for the 2nd Annual Blizzard Ball Gala. Bruce Tremper, the Former Director of the Utah Avalanche Center, will deliver the keynote address.

Weather and Snow

Skies are clear. Temperatures are in the upper teens to low 20s. Winds are light to moderate from the northeast.

Today, we'll have sunny skies, light north to northwest winds, and temperatures rising to the upper 20s to low 30s.

Riding conditions are fair and at least coverage is thin. Still, one can find soft settled powder in the sun and wind protected terrain.

The Outlook: Interesting, to say the least. A series of storms arrive late Friday with a good moisture tap and moderate to strong westerly winds. I'm bullish on this series of storms and wouldn't be surprised to see a couple-few inches of water or snow-water-equivalent by the time it's all said and done. That's the good news. The bad news is that the expected heavy, dense snow, fluctuating temperatures, and strong winds will dramatically increase the avalanche danger. Stay tuned.

Recent Avalanches

We didn't hear of any new avalanches from yesterday in the Provo area mountains, but Dave Kelly, Trent Meisenheimer and I went to look at Sunday's skier triggered avalanche above Forest Lake (upper Tibble Fork) on Sunday. INFO.

Jake Scheuer noted a fairly new likely snowmobile triggered avalanche near the Ant Knolls. Pic below.

Find all avalanches from the past few days on the observations and avalanche page.

Observations and Avalanches

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

You can still trigger pockets of soft and hard wind drifted snow, particularly in the upper elevations. NOTE - because the winds were from the east, drifts will be found in odd or unusual locations. The older hard drifts from the weekend and late last week have mostly settled out, but don't bet your life on it: continue to approach any wind feature with caution. These hard drifts were blown on weak faceted surface snow (PWL - emphasis on persistent) and remained active longer than usual.

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

Ground-level facets and depth hoar are responsible for most of the significant avalanche activity since Christmas. While this persistent weak layer (PWL) is trending toward dormancy, Sunday's Tibble Fork slide—is a reminder that many areas that avalanched and reloaded with snow and wind, can still be triggered by human weight. THESE are not widespread, but still an isolated concern. For more info on this, look at our Tibble Fork/Forest Glen report HERE.

Additional Information

Check out this insightful blog by Paige, Jeremy, and Drew where they break down the complexities of Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) avalanches, why thin and rocky areas are especially dangerous, and how to manage the risks effectively in the backcountry.

Understanding the Risk of Persistent Weak Layer Avalanches

General Announcements

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This information does not apply to developed ski areas or highways where avalanche control is normally done. This forecast is from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This forecast describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.

Observations and Avalanches

Backcountry Emergency Procedures