Forecast: Provo Area Mountains - Utah Avalanche Center

Forecast for the Provo Area Mountains

Issued by Greg Gagne on
Friday morning, March 8, 2024

The avalanche danger is MODERATE on wind-drifted slopes at the upper elevations where triggering shallow soft slabs of wind-drifted snow are possible. Also watch for long-running sluffing in the dry new snow on steep northerly-facing terrain and sluffing in loose, wet snow on south and west aspects. The avalanche danger is LOW at the low and mid elevations.

If you choose to step into bigger terrain, evaluate each slope carefully for wind-drifted snow or thinner, rockier slopes where it is possible to trigger an avalanche. Consider the consequences of your terrain choices if you get caught in even a small avalanche.

Low

Moderate

Considerable

High

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Weather and Snow

This morning: Skies are partly-cloudy and temperatures are in the mid teens F. Winds are from the north/northwest and light, less than 10 mph, with 11,000' wind speeds near 20 mph. 1-3" of new snow has fallen over the past 24hours.

Today: Mostly sunny skies with cool temperatures reaching 25° F at mid elevations and 10-15° F at the upper elevations. Winds will be from the north/northwest and light, gusting into the low 20's mph along the highest ridges and peaks. With some low-level moisture in place, greenhousing (where heat is trapped and dampens the snow surface) is possible at the low elevations and may also lead to some light snow showers.

Although some slopes will be crusted from Thursday, soft snow can be found on many slopes at the mid and upper elevations.

Extended Forecast: Sunny with rising temperatures this weekend with light snow possible early this coming week. A potentially significant winter storm possible by about Wednesday.

Recent Avalanches

Minor avalanche activity was reported from Thursday, including long-running sluffs in the storm snow, and sensitive cornices and shallow wind slabs along exposed ridgelines, as shown in photo below from Bo Torrey along the Park City ridgeline in the Salt Lake mountains.

As we transition to a generally stable snowpack and many are starting to pursue bigger objectives, be sure to read Drew Hardesty's latest blog "Is it REALLY Low Danger?"

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

Sensitive soft slabs of wind-drifted snow and fresh cornices can be found at the upper elevations. Any wind drifts you encounter are likely to be shallow (4-8") and not wide (20-40'), but they may be large enough to carry you in steeper terrain.

With reports of sensitive and large cornices adorning many ridges, stay well back from corniced ridgelines.

To learn more about wind in the mountains, check out Logan forecaster Toby Weed's Blog.

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

Cool temperatures and a snow surface that has already seen some warming should keep wet avalanche activity to a minimum today. But the strong March sun will heat the snow surface and I expect some loose sluffing in wet snow on steep solar aspects, with possible greenhousing at low elevations. This is especially a concern in steep gullies and chutes where wet sluffs may run long distances and a rider may be unable to escape.

Additional Information

The Provo area mountains have widely variable snow and avalanche conditions. The American Fork area and the Wasatch Back had some of the weakest and thinnest snow of northern Utah. Along the upper reaches of the Cascade ridgeline and Timpanogos, natural avalanches have run and repeated over and over on weak faceted snow from early season and/or early December (see photo example - below from two weeks ago). Extra caution is recommended in steep alpine terrain in the Provo Area Mountains where you may see repeater avalanches in thinner snowpack areas that have previously avalanched. This is worth keeping in mind if you are traveling to the Provo Region from another place in the state that has a more stable snowpack.

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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.

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