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Forecast for the Provo Area Mountains

Evelyn Lees
Issued by Evelyn Lees for
Friday, December 14, 2012

The Avalanche Danger is MODERATE on mid and upper elevation northwest through easterly facing slopes for slides breaking into the mid pack weaknesses and triggering a wind drift – either new or old. Slides can be triggered from a distance.

Go To Terrain: wind sheltered, lower angle slopes.

With 3 storms in the forecast, the avalanche danger will increase throughout the weekend and next week.

Low
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Special Announcements

Discount lift tickets are in! Go to http://www.backcountry.com/utah-avalanche-center to get tickets from our partners at Alta, Beaver Mountain, Brighton, Canyons, Deer Valley, Park City, Powder Mountain, Snowbasin, Snowbird, Solitude, Sundance, and Wolf Mountain. All proceeds benefit the Utah Avalanche Center. A big thanks for our world class mountain resorts - we couldn't do it without your partnership.

Weather and Snow

Under mostly cloudy skies, light snow showers have just started in the mountains. The winds are from an unusual southeasterly direction, averaging 15 to 25 mph, with a few stations averaging up to 30 mph, with gusts in the 40’s.

Temperatures range from the mid to upper 20s at the low elevations, cooling steadily into the mid-teens along the highest ridgelines.

Recent Avalanches

Provo area mountains: no reports from the mid to upper elevations due to lack of snow at the low elevations, BUT we must assume they have the same shallow, weak snow pack as the rest of northern Utah.

Salt Lake mnts: An intentional cornice drop yesterday triggered a hard slab to the ground, 3' deep by 50', on a very steep, north facing slope at 10,000. 3 large collapses triggered by a group walking the Big Cottonwood - Mill Creek ridge line.

Park City Ridge line: Natural cornice drops on a north facing slopes triggered slides on a November rain crust along the Park City ridgeline. Explosive control work at resorts on the Park City side had mixed results, with only one slide triggered – a hard slab 8-18” deep and 75’ wide.

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Avalanche Problem #1
New Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description

Yesterday’s avalanche activity and collapses are more than enough information. The weak crusts and facets in our snowpack are on edge – and the weight of a person can tip the balance. Weak layers are most widespread on east through north into northwest, at both the mid and upper elevations. Faceted weak layers mean you can release avalanches from a distance, or they can be stubborn, and wait for the third person or until you are mid slope and break out above you.


While only a limited amount of snow is available for transport today, what there is will be loaded onto the weakest northerly and easterly facing slopes, keeping them near the point of failure.

Avalanche Problem #2
Persistent Weak Layer
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description

Hard drifts of windblown snow still litter the landscape, of widely varying sizes and distribution. Today’s southeasterly through westerly winds will just complicate the pattern. Work hard to identify, and then avoid, both the old, soon to be hidden, wind drifts and the new drifts on steep slopes.

Additional Information

A series of storms will add significant snow to the mountains over the next week. Today, mostly cloudy skies and occasional light snow, adding up to an inch or two. 10,000’ temperatures will remain mild, slowly dropping to near 20 this afternoon, and then into the low teens by Saturday morning. The winds will gradually shift to the southwest and then west, decreasing slightly. Snowfall amounts by midday Saturday will be in the 4 to 14” range, with areas favored by westerly flow receiving the high end. The heaviest snow should be between about 6 pm tonight through midnight.

A brief break is expected late Saturday and Saturday night, with another storm on a southwesterly flow for Sunday into Monday, followed by a strong cold front Tuesday into Wednesday.

General Announcements

Go to http://www.backcountry.com/utah-avalanche-center to get tickets from our partners at Ala, Beaver Mountain, Brighton, Canyons, Deer Valley, Park City, Powder Mountain, Snowbasin, Snowbird, Solitude, Sundance, and Wolf Mountain. All proceeds benefit the Utah Avalanche Center.

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), Canyons Resort Dispatch (435-615-3322)

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

Powder Mountain Ski Patrol Dispatch (801-745-3773 ex 123)

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

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

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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 bysubmitting 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.

This advisory is produced by the U.S. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. It describes only general avalanche conditions and local variations always exist. Specific terrain and route finding decisions should always be based on skills learned in a field-based avalanche class.

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