Forecast: Salt Lake Area Mountains - Utah Avalanche Center

Forecast for the Salt Lake Area Mountains

Issued by Trent Meisenheimer on
Sunday morning, February 13, 2022

This morning the avalanche danger will be LOW and may rise to MODERATE for the possibility of wet snow avalanche problems due to daytime heating and direct sunlight. I would avoid any steep, shallow slopes that become wet, fully saturated, and unsupportable to the weight of a rider.

Outside of any wet snow avalanche problems, the snowpack is generally stable, and the avalanche danger is LOW. Watch for (1) isolated pockets of wind-drifted snow in exposed terrain at the upper elevations and (2) sluffing in the snow in steep terrain.

Low

Moderate

Considerable

High

Extreme

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Special Announcements

Scott's Bowl through Scott's Pass is now within Park City Mountain Resorts (PCMR) operating terrain, and Pinecone Ridge on the PCMR side is closed to backcountry travel.

Weather and Snow

Under clear skies, the mountain temperatures range from 20-29 °F across the range. Winds are from the west and are blowing 5-10 mph, with some anemometers recording gusts into the 20's at the upper elevations. Expect plenty of sunshine today, with mountain temperatures climbing into the upper 30's and mid to low 40's °F this afternoon.

The mid-week storm starting on Tuesday is looking and little better for some brief snowfall Tuesday into Wednesday. Hopefully, we can get the full 3-6" that the National Weather Service is forecasting.

Recent Avalanches

Two people were caught in their sluff yesterday. One person was hit by the sluff and didn't move. The other was caught, carried, and at one point fully submerged by the snow. Thankfully both parties came away with no injuries. Both parties had a nice write-up about what happened, and you can find observations HERE.

Greg Gagne's Week in Review is published and can be found HERE>

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

As the temperatures warm over the next couple of days, it wouldn't hurt to be thinking about some wet snow problems. I would avoid areas where the snowpack is shallow (less than 3 feet deep) and becomes fully saturated, wet, and unsupportable to the weight of a rider.

The most suspect terrain would be outside the Cottonwoods, such as PC ridgeline, Lambs, Mt Aire, Sessions, Mill Canyon Peak, and Snake Creek. As always, if the snowpack becomes unsupportable and you're seeing active rollerballs cascading down the hill, it's time to get out of there.

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

Outside of any wet snow related problems, the snowpack is generally stable and natural and human-triggered avalanches are unlikely. You may encounter

FRESH pockets of hard slab along exposed ridges and in open terrain at the upper elevations. Although any drifts will be shallow and not very wide, wind drifts will be sensitive if they have formed on top of weaker snow underneath.

Fast and long-running sluffs in the weak, cohesion-less surface snow on steep slopes on shady aspects. In confined and sustained terrain features, sluffs can pile up deeply, especially in terrain traps. On slopes where the weak snow at the surface rests on top of hard crusts, getting caught and carried in a loose sluff could have serious consequences in steep, rocky terrain as you may be unable to self-arrest on any slick surfaces underneath.

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.

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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

Backcountry Emergency Procedures