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Forecast for the Salt Lake Area Mountains

Greg Gagne
Issued by Greg Gagne on
Monday morning, February 7, 2022
The snowpack is generally stable and the avalanche danger is Low. Two concerns are (1) sluffing in the snow at the surface in steep northerly terrain, and (2) isolated pockets of wind-drifted snow in exposed terrain at the upper elevations.
Risk is inherent in mountain travel; getting caught in a small avalanche could have serious consequences in steep, rocky terrain.
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Special Announcements
Join the Utah Avalanche Center on Saturday, February 12th at the Brighton Beacon Bash hosted by Weston Backcountry, Utah Mountain Adventures, Black Diamond, and Ortovox. There will be FREE ski and splitboard demos, avalanche rescue gear demos and a LIVE mock avalanche rescue.
Weather and Snow
Temperatures this morning range through the teens and winds are from the north and have increased overnight. At mid elevations, winds are less than 10 mph with gusts in the 20's. Along exposed upper-elevation ridges, winds average in the 20's with gusts around 50 mph. Skies are ...... clear.
For today, temperatures will rise into the 20's and low 30's F with northerly winds averaging less than 10 mph with gusts in the 20's at mid elevations and in the 20's with gusts in the 40's mph at upper elevations. Winds will be strongest this morning and decrease during the afternoon. Abundant sunshine.
Recent Avalanches
No new avalanche activity was reported. You can find all the backcountry observations HERE.
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Avalanche Problem #1
Normal Caution
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
The snowpack is generally stable and natural and human-triggered avalanches are unlikely. In isolated areas, you may encounter
  • 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.
  • Pockets of fresh wind drifted snow 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. On my field day in Cascade Ridge in the Provo mountains on Sunday, my party and I were able to find a few of these sensitive pockets of wind-drifted on top of weaker snow.
Evaluate each slope and look for any signs of instability such as cracking in fresh wind drifts or long-running sluffs in steep terrain.
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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