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Forecast for the Salt Lake Area Mountains

Greg Gagne
Issued by Greg Gagne on
Monday morning, January 17, 2022
The avalanche danger is Low on all aspects at all elevations. Natural and human-triggered avalanches are unlikely, but not impossible, and could occur in isolated terrain.
Continue to use safe travel protocol practices when in avalanche terrain - keep a close eye on your partners and expose only one person at a time on a slope.
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Weather and Snow
Skies are clear and temperatures are in the upper 20's and low 30's F, with some low-elevation trailheads where colder air sinks in the teens. Winds are from the west and light - gusting in the low teens along mid-elevation ridges with gusts in the 20's mph along the highest peaks. For today, temperatures will rise into the 30's F and the westerly winds will remain light, gusting in the teens at mid elevations and 20's mph at the highest peaks. Skies will be partly cloudy - let's hope not too cloudy so to obscure tonight's Wolf Moon.
Soft snow can still be found on shady, wind-sheltered aspects above 8,000'. The snow surface is weakening on these slopes where it has become faceted with some surface hoar.
Colder air arrives later Tuesday where a snowflake (a "Blizzard of One" - Mark Strand) is possible. It's also too far out, but a few inches of snow is possible late this coming week.
Recent Avalanches
No backcountry avalanches were reported from Sunday. A natural avalanche from Broads Fork was reported on Saturday morning. Although it was a small slide, it may have been a glide avalanche.
On Sunday, Nikki visited the UFO Bowls in the Provo-area mountains and her discussion of the snowpack also applies to the central Wasatch:
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Avalanche Problem #1
Normal Caution
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
Normal caution is used when the avalanche danger is Low and there is no predominant type of avalanche problem. Although avalanches are unlikely, they are not impossible and they could occur in isolated terrain, such as
- loose, wet avalanches in steep couloirs and gullies on southerly aspects;
- a larger avalanche breaking down into faceted snow in steep, thin rocky terrain on aspects facing northwest through east at the mid and upper elevations.
Although I am unsure if the small avalanche in Broads Fork is a glide avalanche or not, there is a deep snowpack in drainages where glide avalanches occur, such as Broads Fork and Stairs Gulch. Glide avalanches are notoriously difficult to forecast, but when they do occur they will release the entire season's snowpack down to the ground.
Additional Information
What happened to the Persistent Weak Layer problem? The PWL problem first appeared in the December 12 forecast, and since that time numerous large natural and human-triggered avalanches have occurred, failing on the layer of faceted snow down near the ground on mid and upper elevation aspects facing west, north, and east. This PWL formed from snowfall in October and early November that weakened during the prolonged dry spell through November and early December. Heavy snowfall in December and early January snowfall placed a 3-5' deep slab of strong/dense snow on top of this layer (as shown in this photo by Meredith Johnson) and it is now unlikely a skier or rider could affect this deeply-buried layer. Although we may not have any remaining issues with this PWL this season, for now we are saying the PWL problem has become dormant as it may again become reactive with future storms.
General Announcements
Who's up for some free avalanche training? Get a refresher, become better prepared for an upcoming avalanche class, or just boost your skills. Go to https://learn.kbyg.org/ and scroll down to Step 2 for a series of interactive online avalanche courses produced by the UAC.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE GENERAL INFO AND FAQ
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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