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Forecast for the Salt Lake Area Mountains

Evelyn Lees
Issued by Evelyn Lees for
Sunday, December 23, 2012

The avalanche danger is generally MODERATE with pockets of CONSIDERABLE danger on steep mid and upper elevation slopes facing northwest through east, for triggering both a deep slide breaking on facets and for triggering a hard drift of wind-blown snow. Both can be triggered from a distance. This complex pattern makes slope stability analysis difficult - travel on wind sheltered slopes less steep than about 35 degrees is recommended. The danger is most widespread in drainages and at elevations with a shallower snow pack depth.

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Special Announcements

It's never too late to give that special someone (or yourself) an avalanche class for the holidays. A couple of clicks and you are done - no standing in line or shipping. We have beginning and advanced 1 day classes, the Snowbird Freeride Avalanche Summit, and women-only classes. Details at http://utahavalanchecenter.org/avalanche-classes.

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

Weather and Snow

Under partly to mostly cloudy skies, very light snow is falling in the mountains, with barely a trace so far. Temperatures are in the teens to mid-20s, and the southwesterly winds have FINALLY backed off. After peaking before midnight, (35 to 45 mph averages, with gusts in the 70s), wind speeds are currently less than 15 mph at most stations, with only the highest peaks averaging in the 20s.

The snow surface got hammered over the past 2 days, and hard wind slabs and breakable wind crusts are widespread, with limited areas of soft snow remaining on super wind sheltered slopes.

Recent Avalanches

There were no reports of backcountry avalanches yesterday. Explosive control work at the resorts released a 3 to 4’ deep hard slab in Little Cottonwood breaking into old snow and a 2 foot deep hard slab on the Park City side, both on northeasterly facing, upper elevation slopes.

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Avalanche Problem #1
New Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description

The slopes where you could trigger a slide failing near a mid-pack crust or the ground are becoming more isolated, but the slide would be no less deep, wide or potentially deadly. The weakest snowpack layering is where the snowpack is shallow, and on northerly through easterly facing slopes, from as low as 8,000’ all the way to the ridgelines. Examples include, but are not limited to, the Park City Ridgeline, drainages of Mill Creek, and Mineral Fork in big Cottonwood Canyon.

Avalanches can be triggered from a distance, break out above you and tracks on a slope are not a definitive sign of stability.

A look at a shallow snowpack, with weak facet / crust layers.

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

The widespread hard wind drifts that have been created over the past few days are welded in on some slopes, but it is possible to trigger on others. Strong winds make the drifts deep, pockety and erratic – they are on a variety of aspects and elevations. They can look smooth or have a rippled pattern, are very hard, and only sometimes hollow sounding – best to be avoided on all steep slopes.

Additional Information

Lingering snow flurries this morning will rapidly disappear, and there may be a few breaks in the clouds early before they thicken up once again this afternoon. 10,000’ temperatures will remain in the mid-teens today, and the southwesterly winds will be generally light this morning.

The southwesterly winds will increase once again this afternoon ahead of an approaching cold front. 15 to 20 mph averages across the higher peaks by this afternoon, and gusts in the 40s. Light, but steady snowfall should begin late this evening, with frontal passage late Monday morning. Up to 6 hours of heavy snowfall are possible tomorrow, with rates of 2”/hour possible at times. Temperatures will drop all day Monday, into the single digits by evening. Average storm totals of a foot are expected for the northern mountains, with 1 ½ feet in the Cottonwoods. The progressive pattern continues, with another storm around Thursday.

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.

Twitter Updates for your mobile phone - DETAILS

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.

For a print version of this advisory click HERE.

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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