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Forecast for the Salt Lake Area Mountains

Drew Hardesty
Issued by Drew Hardesty for
Wednesday, January 30, 2013

A CONSIDERABLE danger exists in the mid and upper elevation wind drifted terrain.

The low density "blower powder" allows for over-the-head powder on even low angle terrain (less than, say, 33 degrees in steepness) where you won't even have to deal with sluff management or the prospect of triggering one of these persistent slabs. These are the smart terrain choices for today.

Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
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Learn how to read the forecast here
Special Avalanche Bulletin
THIS SPECIAL AVALANCHE ADVISORY IS FOR THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTHERN UTAH, TO INCLUDE THE BEAR RIVER RANGE, THE WESTERN UINTAS AND THE
 MANTI-SKYLINE PLATEAU. THE CURRENT STORM HAS LED TO DANGEROUS AVALANCHE CONDITIONS IN STEEP TERRAIN. THIS INCLUDES MOUNTAIN
 VALLEYS THAT HAVE RECEIVED THE MOST SNOW. NATURAL AND HUMAN TRIGGERED AVALANCHES ARE LIKELY.
Special Announcements

Backcountry closure beginning at 0001 hours 1/30/13 for the North side of LCC from gate B through Grizzly Gulch. Estimated re-opening: 8:30. Snowbird will also be firing their Village gun at their avalanche terrain adjacent to Scotty's Bowl and White Pine this morning. This will not affect dawn patrollers headed out White Pine parking lot.

Weather and Snow

Years ago, Evelyn wrote the season summary describing the winter's snowfall pattern, "Like a child had added all the frosting to the top of the cake and forgotten the sides." The sides did quite well yesterday, particularly in the Ogden mountain valleys, with reports of 18-32" of 3-4% pure down feathers. Teton colleague and Snowbasin snowsafety GR Fletcher called it perhaps the lightest snow he had ever seen, remarking that tree-well and other snow-immersion issues were a concern as well.

What a wild and variable storm. With a couple more inches overnight here are the storm totals: Ogden area mountains 22", Park City mountains 3-6", Big Cottonwood 4-7", Little Cottonwood 20", Provo mountains 2". The densities - or lack thereof - bode well for the avalanche story and your terrain choices for today (as described below).

Temperatures are in the single digits up high, the mid teens down low. While the snow was on the front page yesterday, the northwesterly winds will make today's headlines - they are blowing 15-20mph with gusts to 35 in the semi-protected areas; the open exposed anemometers are clocking speeds in the 35-45mph range with gusts to 65.

Recent Avalanches

A couple shallow loose snow natural cycles were noted during times of increased snowfall intensity and a bump in winds yesterday; indeed most ski patrol workers and b/c riders in steep terrain noted how widespread the sluffing was in the cold smoke.

Otherwise, control work in Big Cottonwood produced a 18-24" deep and 150' wide soft slab that stepped through crusts into old snow on a west facing uncompacted slope at 8900'. To the north and east there along the PC ridgeline, one slide of note was triggered remotely 12-18" deep and 75' wide on a steep east facing slope at 8500'. Collapsing was also noted on southeast facing terrain as well as more sheltered northerly terrain.

Check out Trent's video from his field day in Mineral Fork of BCC from Monday. New media for the new age - he's gonna put us" type and photo" guys out of work before long.

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

Wind drifts in the new snow will be the initial concern today along the exposed north through east through south facing terrain. The stronger winds will easily continue to drift and crossload the 4% smoke well off the ridgelines and across sub-ridges and into the lee chutes and gullies. Careful slope cuts should mitigate these, though make no mistake these slides are moving fast and far. It should be noted that even shallow slides and trauma contributed to the two tragic backcountry skier deaths in the Tetons on Sunday.

Avalanche Problem #2
Wet Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description

More prevalent for yesterday as settlement should help with stability; still, natural and provoked loose snow avalanching will remain possible in the steepest (>40 degree terrain)...all considerations if in terrain with few options for escape...

Another concern will be loose snow or roof-a-lanches in the mountain valleys or immersion accidents - there just isn't much to push against to right oneself. Unusual conditions lead to unusual incidents.

Avalanche Problem #3
Loose Dry Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description

While not as sensitive as the first two avalanche problems, the additional weight of snow + wind make travel through the steep west to north to southeast terrain guilty until proven innocent. Recent slides up to 3' deep in steep wind drifted terrain over the past couple days caught very experienced people by surprise. These hard slabs may be triggered remotely, even from lower angled slopes. Collapsing and careful analysis of the structure will be key signs.

Additional Information

We'll likely see periods of snow today adding up to another 4-7" in areas favored by a west to northwest flow. Temps will be in the mid teens at 10,000' and low 20s at 8000'. The northwesterly winds will remain in the moderate to strong category for most of the day. Unsettled weather persists through Thursday with a ridge developing overhead for the weekend. Another storm is possible for next week. More details on our mountain weather page, updated by mid afternoon.

General Announcements

Go to http://www.backcountry.com/utah-avalanche-center to get tickets from our partners at Park City, Beaver Mountain, Canyons, 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 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.

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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