Forecast: Salt Lake Area Mountains - Utah Avalanche Center

Forecast for the Salt Lake Area Mountains

Issued by Greg Gagne on
Monday morning, February 9, 2026

The avalanche danger is Low and normal caution is advised. Winds today may create small pockets of fresh wind drifts in exposed terrain in the mid and upper elevations, and sluffing in loose, dry snow is possible on steep northerly aspects.

Grey on low elevation southerly aspects indicates that there is little to no snow in this terrain.

Expect a rising avalanche danger this week with snow in the forecast.

Low

Moderate

Considerable

High

Extreme

Learn how to read the forecast here

Special Announcements

Greatest Rain on Earth?!?: Forecaster Drew Hardesty penned a new essay about high-elevation rain and the warm-snow drought HERE.

Weak Snow: Today's Surface, Tomorrow's Avalanche Problem: Essay by UAC Director Paige Pagnucco HERE.

Weather and Snow

This Morning: Temperatures are in the low to mid 30's °F and winds are blowing from the west, averaging 15-20 mph with gusts in the 30's mph along exposed mid and upper-level ridgelines. 11,000 foot winds are gusting to 50 mph.

Today: Increasing clouds with temperatures slowly dropping into the low 30's F. Winds will be from the west, gusting into the 30's mph at the upper-elevations, with 11,000 wind speeds gusting near 50 mph. We may even pick up a few snowflakes by early afternoon.

This Week: Things are beginning to look more promising with snow forecast to begin later Tuesday and into Wednesday. This initial storm will be on a southwest flow and windy, with snow levels rising to over 7,000 feet before lowering as colder air arrives on Thursday. We may see 4-8 inches of new snow by Thursday, and the 7-10 day forecast looks favorable for additional snow.

Recent Avalanches

No avalanche activity was reported from Sunday.

I was in upper Little Cottonwood on Sunday, looking at the current snow surface ahead of what will - hopefully - be a period of snowfall, beginning this week. You can view all recent observations here.

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

We use Normal Caution as an avalanche problem when we forecast a Low danger, but small avalanches can still occur, even during Low danger.

Winds, cloud cover, and lowering temperatures should keep the snow surface cool today and I'm not expecting any wet avalanche activity.

Although there is little loose snow available for transport, today's westerly winds may find some loose snow and create small, shallow wind drifts in exposed terrain in the mid and upper elevations.

It is also possible to trigger loose sluffs of dry, faceted snow on steep northerly-facing slopes.

General Announcements

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