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Forecast for the Salt Lake Area Mountains

Nikki Champion
Issued by Nikki Champion for
Sunday, March 22, 2020
The avalanche danger is LOW. The two things to watch for today are (1) small, loose wet avalanches on aspects facing east, south, and west, as well as low and mid-elevation northerly slopes, especially mid-day with peak temperatures (2) small pockets of fresh wind drifts may be found along north-facing upper elevation ridgelines.
Pay attention to changing springtime conditions, if the skies clear and the snow surface becomes damp the avalanche danger could increase to MODERATE on steep solar slopes.
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Special Announcements
We know there is a lot of uncertainty regarding the Coronavirus, but the Utah Avalanche Center is planning to continue issuing regular avalanche forecasts into April.
Travel in the mountains is still a relatively safe way to get out, exercise, find joy, and maintain a sense of normalcy. During these challenging times, the UAC asks that you do not carpool with people who live outside of your household, keep your groups small, and don’t have social gatherings at the parking lot before or after your day out. Please take extra precautions to avoid the risk of accidents that could require medical attention. Any backcountry accident can stress the capacity of our medical system.
Uphill Travel at Ski Areas - Some closed resorts are offering limited uphill access, and policies may change daily. The latest information about uphill access from Ski Utah is posted HERE.
Weather and Snow
This morning, mountain temperatures are in the low-20s F at trailheads and low teens F at ridgelines. Winds are westerly and have increased overnight, currently averaging in the mid-teens with gusts above 20 mph at mid-elevations and gusts above 35 mph at upper elevations.
Today, a weak high pressure will build over the area and bring partly cloudy skies, mountain temperatures in the upper-20s to low 30s F, and westerly winds averaging 5-15 mph at mid-elevations and 15-25 mph, with gusts up to 35 mph at upper elevations. There is another chance of light snow showers this afternoon.
The next round of measurable precipitation will begin late tomorrow morning, or early afternoon before a cold front pushes through the area Tuesday into Wednesday.
Recent Avalanches
Yesterday a few more small avalanches were reported in the backcountry. This includes both wet-loose avalanches on solar slopes as they warmed, as well as a few lingering dry-loose avalanches in solar protected terrain features.
Below is a photo of the linger loose-dry avalanche below the trees in Little Cottonwood Canyon. (S. Zimmerman-Wall). See the full observation HERE.
As always, you can find more details in the Observations and Avalanches tab above and locations of these areas HERE
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Avalanche Problem #1
Normal Caution
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Location
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Description
Today, the overall avalanche danger is LOW. This means that human-triggered avalanches are unlikely, but small avalanches in isolated areas are possible.
Today I would watch for:
1. Wet snow - Last night's below freezing temperatures and today's cloud cover should keep the snow surface cooler but as the day heats up and the snow gets wet, you should be able to trigger small loose wet avalanches. These usually start at your feet and fan out below you. However, watch out for these slides happening naturally especially if you are in a gully or any confined terrain where a small one could pile up deeply. Look for signs of wet snow like rollerballs.
2. Wind drifted snow - Increased westerly winds yesterday into this morning may have transported some lingering dry snow and created small pockets of recent-wind drifted snow, predominately in upper elevation northeast-facing terrain features, such as ridgelines and cross-loaded gullies. Avoid terrain features with obvious signs of wind-drifted snow.
Continue to maintain safe travel habits; this means exposing one person at a time to avalanche terrain, having someone watch them from a safe location, and not traveling above or below other parties.
Additionally, keep in mind that closed ski resorts are performing no avalanche control work and must be treated as the backcountry.
Additional Information
If you are new to backcountry skiing (perhaps you are hiking uphill at a closed resort), the UAC has published an award-winning educational series Know Before You Go. This includes:
- A basic 15-minute avalanche awareness video
- A free online-learning series with five interactive courses
But don't stop here. Commit yourself to take an avalanche awareness class during the 2020/21 season!
General Announcements
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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