UDOT PLANNED AVALANCHE CLOSURES!!

Forecast for the Provo Area Mountains

Drew Hardesty
Issued by Drew Hardesty for
Thursday, November 13, 2014

No avalanche danger exists at the moment. However, with a storm in the forecast for today through Saturday, new snow amounts may be great enough to increase the avalanche danger on the upper elevation northwest, north and northeasterly facing slopes that have a shallow base of weak, faceted snow.

We'll update the avalanche forecast as the snow arrives and through the weekend.

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Learn how to read the forecast here
Special Announcements

To those skinning uphill at resorts: it is your responsibility to know the resort policy on uphill travel. Some allow uphill travel and have guidelines, some don't. Contact the Ski Patrol at each resort for details. IMPORTANT: Before skinning at a resort under new snow conditions, check in with Ski Patrol. Resorts can restrict or cut off access if incompatible with control and grooming operations. Stay tuned for uphill closures over the next week or two as resorts get their terrain open.

None of the mountain resorts are open for the season and you must treat the snow as a backcountry snowpack. It was exactly three years ago today - Nov 13, 2011 - when over 8 people were caught and carried in separate events in the unopened terrain in upper Little Cottonwood, resulting in a broken femur in upper Albion Basin and a tragic fatality in the Gad Valley. Here's Evelyn's forecast the following day.

Weather and Snow

Snow in the mountains, snow in the valleys. Snow began in the early hours this morning with a trace to two noted across the range. Temps have warmed under the warm air advection ("warm front") regime from - in some cases - below zero and the single digits to the single digits and teens. Winds are northwesterly and blowing 15-20mph with some gusts to 35/40. At this point in the game, the northwest to north to northeast slopes above about 9500' have 6-8" of weak faceted snow leftover from the Halloween/El Dia de Los Muertos storm at the beginning of the month. (Mark White photo below from a couple days ago followed by Evelyn's)

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Avalanche Problem #1
Wind Drifted Snow
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You can check out a couple recent observations HERE and HERE. If we pick up more snow than expected over the next several days, the new wind drifts will become reactive to human weight and provocation, though confined to that narrow sliver of terrain with pre-existing snow. Remember it's not too early, Crested Butte backcountry has already had a couple catch-and-carry avalanche incidents this season.

In the meantime, check out our Education schedule here - we have a few free Avalanche Awareness classes coming up.

We have a guest Blog post from long time observer Todd Leeds about getting ready for the early season -

Additional Information

Just look outside the door and you'll know that Old Man Winter has returned. We'll see on and off snow accumulations through the early part of the weekend under a moist westerly flow. Though I expect more wind than anything, snow amounts may reach 4-8", with areas north of I-80 favored by the storm track. Temps will continue to rise to the upper teens and low 20s. Winds will should shift to the southwest and blow 30-40mph along the highest ridgelines, generally through Saturday. A high amplitude ridge builds over the west coast early weekend, drawing Arctic temps in to Utah on a brisk northerly flow, with temps dropping to the low single digits by late Sat/early Sunday. The ridge moves overhead early in the week.

General Announcements

Remember your information can save lives. If you see anything we should know about, please participate in the creation of our own community avalanche advisory by submitting snow and avalanche conditions. You can also call us at 801-524-5304 or 800-662-4140, email by clicking HERE, or include #utavy in your tweet or Instagram.

If you trigger an avalanche in the backcountry - especially if you are adjacent to a ski area – please call the following teams to alert them to the slide and whether anyone is missing or not. Rescue teams can be exposed to significant hazard when responding to avalanches, and do not want to do so when unneeded. Thanks.

Salt Lake and Park City – Alta Central (801-742-2033), Canyons Resort Dispatch (435-615-3322)

Snowbasin Resort Dispatch (801-620-1017), Powder Mountain Dispatch (801-745-3772 x 123).

Sundance Dispatch (801-223-4150)

EMAIL ADVISORY If you would like to get the daily advisory by email you will need to subscribe here.​

DAWN PATROL Hotline updated daily by 5-530am - 888-999-4019 option 8.

Twitter Updates for your mobile phone - DETAILS

UDOT canyon closures: LINK TO UDOT

Utah Avalanche Center mobile app - Get your advisory on your iPhone along with great navigation and rescue tools.uned.

Wasatch Powderbird Guides Blog/Itinerary for the Day.

Lost or Found something in the backcountry? - http://nolofo.com/

Ski Utah mobile snow updates

Discount lift tickets will soon be available at Backcountry.com - Thanks to Ski Utah and the Utah Resorts. All proceeds go towards paying for Utah Avalanche Center avalanche and mountain weather advisories.

To those skinning uphill at resorts: it is your responsibility to know the resort policy on uphill travel. Some allow uphill travel and have guidelines, some don't. Contact the Ski Patrol at each resort for details. IMPORTANT: Before skinning at a resort under new snow conditions, check in with Ski Patrol. Resorts can restrict or cut off access if incompatible with control and grooming operations.

Benefit the Utah Avalanche Center when you shop from Backcountry.com or REI: Click this link for Backcountry.com or this link to REI, shop, and they will donate a percent of your purchase price to the UAC. Both offer free shipping (with some conditions) so this costs you nothing!

Benefit the Utah Avalanche Center when you buy or sell on ebay - set the Utah Avalanche Center as a favorite non-profit in your ebay account here and click on ebay gives when you buy or sell. You can choose to have your seller fees donated to the UAC, which doesn't cost you a penny.

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