Forecast: Provo Area Mountains - Utah Avalanche Center

Forecast for the Provo Area Mountains

Issued by Trent Meisenheimer on
Saturday morning, January 25, 2025

Areas of MODERATE avalanche danger exist on all aspects at the upper elevations and on mid-elevation aspects facing northwest through north and east where it is possible to trigger a hard slab avalanche of wind-drifted snow 1-2 feet deep.

On northerly and east-facing slopes at the mid and upper elevations, there is a MODERATE danger of triggering an avalanche that fails 2-4 feet deep in a persistent weak layer.

Low

Moderate

Considerable

High

Extreme

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Special Announcements

Urgent battery replacement required for anyone who received batteries from one of our participating "Batteries for Beacons" shops. Please review the "Batteries for Beacons" replacement notice on our blog. Batteries distributed through our "Batteries for Beacons" program this year have shown to be inadequate length.

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

Overnight the mountains picked up 1 to 3 inches of new snow (0.05-0.15 inches of water). The wind has been pretty calm all night and currently blows from the west-southwest at speeds of 5-10 mph across the upper elevations. Arrowhead was reading a bit faster wind speeds of 10-15 mph. Mountain temperatures range from 10-20 °F.

As a cutoff low forms over California, we should continue to see light snowfall throughout the day, with perhaps an additional 2 to 6 inches of new snow if we are lucky. The wind will oscillate from south to southeast blowing 10-15 mph across the higher terrain. Mountain temperatures will climb into the mid-20s °F.

Unfortunately, strong winds from the past week have wreaked havoc on our snow surface. It's a moonscape out there in places. Hard drifts of wind-blown snow have been scattered throughout the terrain.

Recent Avalanches

Drew Hardesty was in American Fork yesterday and be sure to read his excellent observation HERE.

On Thursday in the Wasatch, a skier was caught and carried in an avalanche along the Park City Ridgeline on a run called Katie's. The avalanche was on a north-facing slope at 9,700' and was a hard slab of wind-drifted snow. It was 1 to 2 feet deep and 300 feet wide and ran into some nasty trees. The skier did sustain some injuries but will be okay.

Observations and Avalanches

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

Strong wind from the past week has created hard slabs of wind-drifted snow in many areas. These slabs formed over our faceted snow surface making them a bit more tricky. Yesterday, while investigating Thursday's human-triggered avalanche, I was able to get propagating results in my snowpit tests. This tells me these slabs are still reactive, and human-triggered avalanches remain possible.

You can find these wind slabs well off ridgelines and on all aspects, but more commonly on slopes facing north through east. Be on the lookout for wind slabs today, and remember, hard wind slabs allow you to get well out onto a slope before fracturing, often even above you.

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

Triggering an avalanche that fails in the buried facets and depth hoar down near the ground is becoming increasingly less likely and this avalanche problem is close to dormancy.

For me, there is too much faceted snow in the snowpack to trust it. I do not like faceted snow. It's unpredictable and scary. I am going to remain patient and continue to avoid steep slopes facing the north side of the compass for the foreseeable future. If you choose to ride that terrain, set yourself up for success and consider the consequences (like trees). Travel one at a time and avoid steep, shallow, rocky terrain where it is more likely to trigger a deeper slab avalanche 2-4 feet deep.

Photo: Drew Hardesty showing the two layers of weak faceted snow in the snowpack.

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

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