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Forecast for the Provo Area Mountains

Drew Hardesty
Issued by Drew Hardesty on
Tuesday morning, March 25, 2014

We have a mostly LOW danger in the backcountry this morning that will rise to MODERATE with today's skyrocketing temps and light wind. Cornices and glide slab potential should be other concerns for mountain travel today. It'll be the warmest day yet - be off of and out from underneath the steep sun-drenched slopes by midday, if not earlier.

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Learn how to read the forecast here
Special Announcements

This Thursday, Mar 27th, Liam Fitzgerald will be the final speaker at the Utah Adventure Journal series, talking about avalanche control in Little Cottonwood Canyon and the avalanche control program in the early days of Snowbird. Liam was the first snow safety director at Snowbird and has been an avalanche professional in Little Cottonwood ever since. Liam will be sharing stories and lessons learned from avalanche assessment and control over 45 years. There is a suggested small donation to the Utah Avalanche Center which includes a raffle for great donated gear and happy hour food and drink specials. 6pm, Wildflower Lounge, 21+

Thanks for all the love during last Thursday's Love Utah Give Utah Campaign. 97 of you came forward with $4,145 which will help plug some holes in our advisory and education programs next season plus make some website improvements over the summer. Thanks for the notes and best wishes -

SALE! on all remaining discount lift tickets donated to the Utah Avalanche Center from Snowbasin, the Canyons, Beaver Mountain, Sundance, and Brian Head: The few remaining tickets are being blown out with all proceeds used to pay for avalanche advisories and education. Go here to get your tickets.

Weather and Snow

Skies are clear. Mountain temps are in the mid 30s. Westerly winds are all but a whisper.

As we've heard before, timing is everything. Yesterday's corn harvest went off by 10am on east, 11am on south, and a bit later on west. Too early and it's a visit to the dental office (as your fillings have rattled out); too late and you're punching through the unsupportable glop - at best. Advancing temps and light wind will have the game on a touch earlier than yesterday. One can still find soft settled powder in the high northerly terrain.

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Avalanche Problem #1
Wet Snow
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Description

The snowpack is generally stable as long as you're off of and out from underneath the steep sun-drenched slopes before they become unsupportable and punchy. With light wind and temps skyrocketing into the 50s+ today, it'll be key to start early and finish early - or just move on to cooler aspects ahead of the sun or avoid it altogether (by heading to the northerlies). Though, with the warmest temps yet, perhaps even the mid-elevation northerlies will get damp for the first time - resulting in rollerballing and sluffing with human provocation. Other notes -

  • Growing and yawning cornices may buckle under their own (and your) weight with direct sun and warming temps
Additional Information

We'll have clear skies with some high thin clouds streaming through today. Temps will skyrocket to near 50 at 8000' and near 40 at 10,000'. Light winds will back to to the southwest and increase in the afternoon, and will reach 40mph overnight ahead of tomorrow's morning's weakening cold front. Looks a bit splittier than it did yesterday. Both winds and temps drop tomorrow with snowfall accumulations in this two-act storm adding up to perhaps 6-10" by early Friday. Thursday's 2nd piece of the storm looks a bit windier from the west and northwest, ushering in cooler temps as well. The weekend looks partly to mostly cloudy with the next storm slated for April Fool's. Really.

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 We have switched to a new SLC email advisory system. If you would like to get the daily advisory by email, or if you have been getting the advisory by email since the beginning of the season and wish to continue, 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 are now 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.

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