Forecast: Salt Lake Area Mountains - Utah Avalanche Center

Forecast for the Salt Lake Area Mountains

Issued by Mark Staples on
Tuesday morning, November 9, 2021

New snow falling Tuesday afternoon and evening will create avalanche problems in the new snow and in places with wind drifted snow.

As more snow begins to fall, there are a few things to remember:

Triggering any avalanche regardless of its size can produce serious trauma even if it doesn't bury you because the snowpack is so thin.
Hitting rocks and stumps is a real danger. Don't end your season before it starts with an injury from hitting one of these obstacles.
Early season avalanches are a real possibility. It doesn't matter if you are hiking, hunting, skiing, etc., be prepared with correct rescue gear and a partner. Many people have died during early season snowstorms.
Ski resorts all have different uphill travel policies. These closed resorts that allow uphill travel can be great places to get in a little skiing especially in you know of a rock-free slope, but it should be treated as backcountry terrain.

We will be issuing intermittent updates and publishing backcountry observations as they arrive. Please continue to submit your observations - Thanks!

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Special Announcements

The 14th Annual Utah Snow and Avalanche Workshop is virtual again this year and will be held Nov 9th, 10th, 11th evenings from 6-9 pm. More info and speaker lineup on our Events page HERE.

Check all the upcoming education HERE.

Weather and Snow

Today (Tues, Nov 9) in the late morning, rain started falling in the valleys and snow began falling in the mountains. Overall temperatures should remain warm enough so that snow levels will be between 7,000-8,000 feet. Higher rates of snowfall should occur in the afternoon and ease by later tonight. Light snowfall should linger until early Wednesday morning. By 7 a.m. Wednesday morning, 6-12" of generally dense snow (0.9-1.3" of water) should accumulate in the upper Cottonwood Canyons.

Winds have mostly blown from the south at 10-20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph on 9000' ridgelines. At higher elevations near 11,000', winds have blown 20-30 mph gusting as high as 60 mph. Later Tuesday afternoon, winds should shift direction and blow from the west as some of the heaviest precipitation occurs. Temperatures should gradually decrease into the teens and 20s F Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

The good news is that the snowpack has been solid, supportable, and dense. Most direct south-facing slopes are bare. Northerly facing slopes that haven't received as much sunshine have 2-3 feet of snow above 10,000 ft. In most places, the snow surface has warmed, melted, and refrozen which is a good thing. At higher elevations, as you approach 10,000', the snow surface is a little softer and contains several thin ice crusts.

This weekend, I found some faceting and weakening had occurred in the snow around these crusts in upper Little Cottonwood Canyon (see photo and snow profile below). Below these near-surface layers, the snowpack is very hard and strong and dense. These fledgling near-surface facets are not a major concern at the moment, but a lot can change. We will also be watching what happens to the snow that falls tonight. If it sits for any length of time, it will like begin faceting as well. Now is a critical time for the development of the snowpack, so let's keep our fingers crossed that we start getting consistent snowfall before the weather gets much colder.

Recent Avalanches

No avalanches were observed or reported over the last few days. Continue to check and submit observations as you get out and about.

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

Avalanche conditions should begin changing quickly this afternoon, especially if high rates of snowfall kick in. Rapid snowfall alone could lead to instabilities within the new snow, and shallow, soft slab avalanches could become possible.

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

Soft slabs of wind drifted snow should be a problem at upper elevations. The problem is that these upper elevation slopes are exactly the places most people will go riding because they have the most snow cover. I would definitely expect to find some freshly formed wind slabs later Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday that could produce an avalanche.

Additional Information

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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.

Observations and Avalanches

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