Forecast - Utah Avalanche Center

Forecast for the Provo Area Mountains

Issued by Brooke Maushund on
Tuesday morning, December 23, 2025

A MODERATE avalanche danger exists on high W-N-E facing slopes, where you can trigger a shallow slab of wind-drifted snow, or a deeper slab avalanche on a persistent weak layer. These are most likely in upper elevation areas where the wind has drifted snow into denser slabs. You are unlikely to receive any warning signs—like cracking or collapsing—before triggering a slide.

If cloud cover and temperatures pan out as forecast, be aware of how wet the snow surface is becoming under your feet, as there is a potential for wet, loose avalanches.

Low

Moderate

Considerable

High

Extreme

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Weather and Snow

This morning, it's 33°F at Cascade Peak. Mountain temperatures hover in the mid 30s to mid 40s F. Arrowhead Summit is registering light SW winds in the mid 20s mph, with gusts reaching into the 40s mph.

Today, expect moderate to strong winds out of the south to continue into the evening. expect moderate to strong southwest winds. Our same pattern of unseasonably warm temperatures into the 40s F and overcast skies continues throughout today, with potential for more wetting and greenhousing of an already damp snowpack. No precipitation throughout the day, with spits and spats of rain starting late this evening.

Tomorrow evening into the weekend, an atmospheric river pulse rides in off SW flow from the Pacific—a unique pattern for us this season. The Provo zone tends to be the winner on snow totals on this flow, so keep your fingers crossed! Snow levels will start near 10,000 feet until early Thursday, before cooler air slowly makes its way into the Wasatch through Saturday. While the timing's off if you're into Santa, keep your fingers crossed for low snow lines and the higher end of storm totals.

Recent Avalanches

There were no reported avalanches yesterday in the Provo zone. Find all recent observations HERE.

We feel it important to acknowledge that many low elevation slopes in the Provo zone do not have enough (if any) snow to be home to any sort of avalanche problem. Nikki and I found this to be true throughout our travels in the Pole Line Pass area on Sunday.

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

A strong over weak snowpack structure persists, with old, weak snow near the ground and at the middle of the snowpack.

The snowpack has handled the modest stress of the past week well, even with warm temperatures and small amounts of snowfall. Still, the structure persists. While coverage and access remains a crux, the terrain with the most appealing snow coverage to ride—higher, steep, northerly wind-loaded terrain—is where you're most likely to trigger an avalanche. We haven't gotten much feedback—cracking or collapsing—from the snowpack in over a week. However, a quiet snowpack isn't always a stable one.

A poor, strong over weak snowpack structure Nikki and I observed near Pole Line Pass on Sunday.

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

Moderate to strong southwest winds have been blowing for several days. While there hasn't been a ton of snow available for transport in the Provo zone, drifts at higher elevations are still out there.

These winds have been effective at building drifts of snow adjacent to ridgelines, as well as on wind-exposed mid-slope features such as gullies, rolls, and rock bands. Watch for changes in snow density; suddenly deeper or stiffer snow likely indicates a wind-loaded area. This will be most common on upper W-N-SE aspects, though wind-exposed mid-elevation terrain is also possible.

Wind-drifted snow avalanches will be effective triggers for releasing a deeper, larger avalanche on our persistent weak layer mentioned above.

General Announcements

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

Backcountry Emergency Procedures