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Forecast for the Salt Lake Area Mountains

Greg Gagne
Issued by Greg Gagne on
Friday morning, February 10, 2023
The avalanche danger is LOW at low and mid elevations and MODERATE on upper elevation, wind-drifted slopes.
Expect small, wet-loose avalanches on steep, sunny slopes as temperatures warm today.
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Weather and Snow
Skies are clear and temperatures - which have been on the rise overnight - range through the 20's F. Winds are westerly and generally light, less than 10 mph at the mid elevations, with gusts in the upper 20's mph at the highest elevations.
For today, sunshine with temperatures rising into the 30's F. through the mid elevations, and just below freezing in the upper elevations. Winds will be westerly and remain generally light, less than 10 mph, with gusts in the 20's at the highest elevations.
Winds speeds will increase overnight and into Saturday, with partly-cloudy skies on Saturday and cooler temperatures over the weekend and into the early part of next week. Colder temperatures with a promising storm system arriving around Tuesday.
Wednesday's strong winds created widespread wind-affected snow in the upper elevations, but abundant soft powder can still be found at the low and mid elevations. And the scenery doesn't get much better.
Recent Avalanches
No avalanches reported from Thursday. See the full list of avalanche activity where you can filter avalanches by region and date.
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Avalanche Problem #1
Wind Drifted Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
Pockets of wind-drifted snow 6-18" thick can be found on all aspects at the upper elevations. In my field day yesterday, I was finding these recent wind drifts to be unreactive to stability tests, but I'm giving them another day to settle out. For now, follow the advice of forecasters Trent Meisenheimer and Mark Staples: avoid the wind and you avoid the avalanche problem:
Additional Information
Check out the updated guidance on electronic interference and beacons HERE. The "20/50 Rule" is that you want your beacon 20cm (8") away from other electronics while transmitting and 50cm (20") away from electronics while searching.
General Announcements
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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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