UDOT PLANNED AVALANCHE CLOSURES!!

Forecast for the Salt Lake Area Mountains

Drew Hardesty
Issued by Drew Hardesty for
Saturday, January 12, 2019
Many areas have a LOW avalanche danger. Isolated pockets of MODERATE danger, however, exist for triggering an avalanche that breaks 1-3' deep into faceted snow at the mid and upper elevation northwest through east facing terrain. Continue to approach recent wind drifted slopes with caution. Don't overstay your welcome on steep sunny aspects with daytime warming.

Safe travel protocol is key: make a plan, communicate, one-at-a-time, keep eyes on your partner.
Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
Extreme
Learn how to read the forecast here
Special Announcements
We just released the first UAC podcast of the 2018/2019 season "Guilt". It's one of many short pieces (5 min) to mix in between our longer conversations.

Join the UAC, Greg Stump, and Scot Schmidt for the 30th Anniversary of Blizzard of Aahhh's at Brewvies on January 24. Scott Schmidt and Greg Stump will be signing posters and the MCs for an evening of big air, big hair, and lots of laughs.
Weather and Snow
Greg Gagne's Most Excellent Week in Review is hot off the presses. Look for it in the Blog menu above or simply click here.

Skies are clear, ain't it a shame. (Not that you'd know it from the valleys.) Winds aloft continued to veer clockwise overnight and are now blowing 10-15mph from the east with occasional gusts to 20. Mountain temps are in the upper teens to low 20s with trailhead and basin thermometers in the single digits. Fair weather persists through Monday with a storm out of the west/southwest for mid-week. Some of the models are quite bullish on projected snow and water amounts. Stay tuned.
For today, expect clear skies, light easterly winds, and mountain temps rising to the mid 20s in the high country. Should be a good day to get out and about.
Skiing and riding conditions are fair with pretty darn good coverage across the range, even at the lower elevations. Total snow depths are a settled 35-45" along the Park City ridgeline and 60-70" in the Cottonwoods. Many trailheads and lower elevation exits have snow depths from 35-45" (elevations roughly 6000'-7500'). Seek the mid-elevation wind sheltered terrain for the best snow.
Recent Avalanches
None. See Greg's Week in Review.
Ad
Avalanche Problem #1
Persistent Weak Layer
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
The mountain snowpack harbors more than a few structural irregularities and interfaces that involve old faceted October snow in the basement as well as pre-Christmas and post-New Year's buried weak layers. Time, warm temps, and settlement has helped the snowpack to adjust and slowly stabilize over the past few days, but I still need some more data points from some of the outlier portions of the range (Lambs, Mt Aire, Mill Creek, Snake Creek, repeaters, etc) to feel completely confident. I would still advise approaching steep recently wind drifted areas - particularly thinner snowpack areas - with caution.
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.