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Forecast for the Salt Lake Area Mountains

Greg Gagne
Issued by Greg Gagne for
Sunday, November 26, 2017

The avalanche hazard is LOW. With a couple of possible small storms early this coming week, the hazard may elevate due to fresh storm snow as well as possible wind drifting. On upper elevation northwest through northeast aspects, weak faceted snow near the ground creates a persistent slab hazard. Remember - a low avalanche hazard doesn't mean no avalanches.

We will continue with intermittent advisories until we begin to receive more snow.

Low
Moderate
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High
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Learn how to read the forecast here
Special Announcements

Support the UAC when you shop Whole Foods Market at Trolley Square, Sugarhouse, and Cottonwood Heights. Between now and Jan 11th, Whole Foods will donate a dime per bag to Utah Avalanche Center when you shop there and donate your bag credit during check out.

See below or the YouTube link to see a review of what's going on with our snowpack and our current avalanche concerns. Special thanks to Steve Lloyd for this project.

Unopened ski area terrain has a backcountry snowpack, as avalanche mitigation work has not been done. Each resort has different uphill travel policies - please abide by signage and closures and check in with the local ski patrol.

Weather and Snow

Conditions as of 3 pm Sunday afternoon feature very mild temperatures with increasingly strong south and southwest winds. Temperatures at 10,500' are in the mid 40's F with gusts over 50 mph from the south.

A rain event to 10,000' early last week, along with very warm temperatures over the Thanksgiving holiday, have crusted most snow surfaces. Southerly aspects have largely melted off, with patches of snow clinging to southeast and southwest aspects. Northerly aspects > 9000' hold about 18-24" of snow (red arrows)

Recent Avalanches

There has been no reported avalanche activity since Saturday Nov 18.

Recent observations from the central Wasatch:

Little Cottonwood Canyon (Alta) (Nov 26)

Big Cottonwood Canyon (Brighton) (Nov 25)

Little Cottonwood Canyon (Alta) (Nov 23)

Little Cottonwood Canyon (Alta) (Nov 23)

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Avalanche Problem #1
Normal Caution
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description

The snowpack is currently stable and avalanches are unlikely. However, with a couple of possible weather systems early this week, the avalanche hazard may elevate:

  • 3-6" of snow are expected Monday afternoon creating possible shallow storm slab avalanches.
  • Moderate to strong winds first from the south/southwest, and then shifting to the northwest on Monday afternoon may create fresh, sensitive wind drifts at the mid and upper elevations.

Although any storm slabs or wind drifts will be quite shallow, even a short ride on our thin snowpack will mean a ride over rocks and stumps.

Avalanche Problem #2
Persistent Weak Layer
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description

Despite the very warm weather over the past several days, the weak, faceted snow at the bottom of our snowpack on upper elevation northwest through northeast aspects remains. This video from Thursday highlights this very weak snow:

Currently, these weaknesses are mostly dormant, and the likelihood of triggering one of these persistent slab avalanches is quite low. But persistent weaknesses will show their hand once again with new loading such as storm snow and/or wind deposited snow.

Additional Information

Cloudy, windy, and mild through early Monday afternoon when we can expect a quick-hitting storm that may bring 3-6" on a northwest flow. Clearing Monday night followed by cool high pressure on Tuesday. Another quick-hitter is possible for Wednesday, with a few more inches of additional snowfall. Models are hinting at something more promising for late this coming weekend.

General Announcements

Remember your information can save lives. If you see anything we should know about, please help us out by submitting snow and avalanche conditions. You can also call us at 801-524-5304, email by clicking HERE, or include #utavy in your tweet or Instagram.

To get help in an emergency (to request a rescue) in the Wasatch, call 911. Be prepared to give your GPS coordinates or the run name. Dispatchers have a copy of the Wasatch Backcountry Ski map.

Backcountry Emergencies. It outlines your step-by-step method in the event of a winter backcountry incident.

If you trigger an avalanche in the backcountry, but no one is hurt and you do not need assistance, please notify the nearest ski area dispatch to avoid a needless response by rescue teams. Thanks.

EMAIL ADVISORY If you would like to get the daily advisory by email you 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, or on Twitter, follow @UDOTavy, @CanyonAlerts or @AltaCentral

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

Powderbird Helicopter Skiing - Blog/itinerary for the day

Ski Utah mobile snow updates

To those skinning uphill at resorts: it is critical to know the resort policy on uphill travel. You can see the uphill travel policy for each resort here.

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 occur.
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