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Forecast for the Provo Area Mountains

Evelyn Lees
Issued by Evelyn Lees for
Wednesday, November 21, 2012

The avalanche danger is MODERATE on steep, wind drifted slopes at both the mid and upper elevations. Drifts will be found both along the high ridge lines and down into open bowls, along sub ridges and gully walls, most widespread on northerly facing slopes. An isolated MODERATE danger also remains on the steepest, northerly facing slopes above about 10,000’, for a slide breaking near the ground.

Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
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Special Announcements

UDOT Big Cottonwood will have intermittent local road closures today from 9-11am as they sight in their artillery in Stairs Gulch near Storm Mountain. More information on the UDOT avalanche program can be found below in our General Announcements.

Weather and Snow

It is a warm and blustery morning – many mid and low elevation stations never got below freezing last night, and are currently in the upper 30s to mid 40s. The southerly winds are battering the most exposed peaks – with averages to 40 mph and gusts in the 50s and 60s. Even at the mid elevations, 15 to 25 mph averages are common. Al this spells the demise of dry, cold powder. Stiff wind drifts or frozen crusts and damp snow cover all but the most sheltered, shady slopes. While there is snow up high in the Provo area mountains, reaching it continues to be an issue due to the lack of low and mid elevation snow.

Recent Avalanches

No new avalanche activity reported from the backcountry yesterday.

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Avalanche Problem #1
Persistent Weak Layer
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description

The strong, southerly winds are moving snow, both along the ridge lines and well down into the mid elevation terrain. Dense, stubborn wind drifts can crack out beneath a person or sled, and are large enough to catch and carry a person. Almost any early season ride in an avalanche includes a rough journey over rocks. If you due travel to the upper elevations of the Provo area mountains, avoid the wind drifted slopes by looking for telltale patterns on the snow surface, such as ripples and pillows, and jump on small test slopes to see how sensitive and deep the drifts are.

Avalanche Problem #2
New Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description

With pockets of dry, loose facets near the ground in isolated places, I can still think of a few, very steep, very cold, north facing slopes where I wouldn’t venture – all above about 10,000’. I am hoping the generally warm weather and snowpack will continue to strengthen this weak layer near the ground.

Additional Information

It is a bit hard to get excited about the weather today – partly cloudy skies, warm and windy, with high temperatures in the 40’s this morning. Increasing clouds and gradually cooling temperatures this afternoon as a weak system moves by to the north, producing a trace of light rain and snow in the Provo area mountians tonight. Winds will remain brisk overnight, but switch to a more westerly direction. Cooler temperatures on Thanksgiving, with highs only in the 30’s, followed by more warm and dry weather through Saturday. But hope for a close to the endless summer is on the horizon – a colder storm is forecast to arrive around Sunday.

General Announcements

If you trigger an avalanche in the backcountry - especially if you are adjacent to a ski area – please call the following teams to alert them to the slide and whether anyone is missing or not. Rescue teams can be exposed to significant hazard when responding to avalanches, and do not want to do so when unneeded. Thanks.

Salt Lake and Park City – Alta Central (801-742-2033)

Ogden – Snowbasin Patrol Dispatch (801-620-1017)

Provo – Sundance Patrol Dispatch (801-223-4150)

Dawn Patrol Forecast Hotline, updated by 05:30: 888-999-4019 option 8.

Twitter Updates for your mobile phone

Daily observations are frequently posted by 10 pm each evening.

Subscribe to the daily avalanche advisory e-mail click HERE.

UDOT canyon closures UDOT at (801) 975-4838

Wasatch Powderbird Guides does daily updates about where they'll be operating on this blog http://powderbird.blogspot.com/ .

Remember your information can save lives. If you see anything we should know about, please participate in the creation of our own community avalanche advisory by submitting snow and avalanche conditions. You can also call us at 801-524-5304 or 800-662-4140, or email by clicking HERE

Donate to your favorite non-profit –The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center. The UAC depends on contributions from users like you to support our work.

Evelyn will update this forecast tomorrow. Thanks for calling.

If you trigger an avalanche in the backcountry - especially if you are adjacent to a ski area – please call the following teams to alert them to the slide and whether anyone is missing or not. Rescue teams can be exposed to significant hazard when responding to avalanches, and do not want to do so when unneeded. Thanks.

Salt Lake and Park City – Alta Central (801-742-2033)

Ogden – Snowbasin Patrol Dispatch (801-620-1017)

Provo – Sundance Patrol Dispatch (801-223-4150)

Dawn Patrol Forecast Hotline, updated by 05:30: 888-999-4019 option 8.

Twitter Updates for your mobile phone

Daily observations are frequently posted by 10 pm each evening.

Subscribe to the daily avalanche advisory e-mail click HERE.

UDOT canyon closures UDOT at (801) 975-4838

Wasatch Powderbird Guides does daily updates about where they'll be operating on this blog http://powderbird.blogspot.com/ .

Remember your information can save lives. If you see anything we should know about, please participate in the creation of our own community avalanche advisory by submitting snow and avalanche conditions. You can also call us at 801-524-5304 or 800-662-4140, or email by clicking HERE

Donate to your favorite non-profit –The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center. The UAC depends on contributions from users like you to support our work.

I will update this forecast tomorrow. Thanks for calling.

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