Dangerous and Unusual Avalanche Conditions Across the State Three significant avalanche accidents have occurred in the past week. Two accidents required the assistance of Search and Rescue to evacuate the injured victims. Another victim was unconscious but soon able to self-evacuate. WHAT IS UNUSUAL is that each of these avalanche accidents took place in the lower elevations bands below 8000’. What this means is that these avalanches can occur not far from parking lots or trailheads. These dangerous avalanches are 1-4’ deep at the top fracture line and easily triggered from …

The danger was “only” moderate that day. My friends and I had climbed up through south facing terrain looking to ski powder in an upper alpine north facing bowl. It was a beautiful day. The danger had recently dropped, and we didn’t see or experience any outward signs of instability such as cracking, collapsing, or recent avalanches. When we reached the top of the ridge and peered into the bowl on the other side, we saw numerous sets of tracks. We quickly transitioned, dropped in one at time, and shredded the fresh powder without incident. Wanting more and feeling good about …

Our Week in Review highlights significant snowfall, weather, and avalanche events of the prior week. (Review the archived forecasts for the Salt Lake mountains.) The danger roses for the Salt Lake mountains from Friday, December 9 through Thursday, December 15: Summary: A long-duration storm that begins on Sunday evening and lasts through the week with 2.5' - 6' of snowfall in the Cottonwoods containing 1.5" - 2.75" of snow water equivalent (SWE) and 1.5' - 3' of snowfall in the Park City mountains (containing 1" - 1.5" SWE). Numerous natural and human-triggered …

This will be a working document detailing the progression of this season's Persistent Weak Layer of loose, sugary faceted snow that formed in mid November. This is for the Manti Skyline region but similarities exist in many other regions. EARLY SNOW: Nov 2 through Nov 9, 2022 A series of storms moved through leaving about 2 feet of new snow by Nov 9. The snow was quite supportable meaning you could travel on it quite easy with skis and even snowmobiles to a certain extent. It provided some of the best early season riding conditions we've seen in a long time. PERSISTENT …

Our Week in Review highlights significant snowfall, weather, and avalanche events of the prior week. (Review the archived forecasts for the Salt Lake mountains.) The danger roses for the Salt Lake mountains from Friday, December 2 through Thursday, December 8: Summary: The best way to get caught up on early winter weather is by first reading Mark Staple's excellent blog Weather and Snow Summary Fall 2022. 35 avalanches are reported to the UAC over this past week with avalanche activity focusing on aspects facing west through north and east where a buried …

Weather and Snow Summary Fall 2022 To help understand the current avalanche situation, it helps to briefly review weather from this fall and its effect on the snowpack. This discussion focuses on the mountains of northern Utah. It is still relevant to other areas like the Skyline and La Sal mountains, but those places have had different weather patterns. Here are the major weather events. Graphs (scroll to the bottom) from NRCS SNOTEL sites around the state show these precipitation patterns. There are also two graphs showing winds and temperatures. Dry and warm fall with …

[Note: The Week in Review is published once the winter season is firmly established, typically in early December. Given the amount of snowfall from this past week, we will publish an early-season Week in Review, with regular updates as conditions warrant.] Our Week in Review highlights significant snowfall, weather, and avalanche events of the prior week. (Review the archived forecasts for the Salt Lake mountains.) The danger roses for the Salt Lake mountains from Friday, November 4 through Thursday, November 10: Summary: Early-season snow from October gets …