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Forecast for the Salt Lake Area Mountains

Drew Hardesty
Issued by Drew Hardesty for
Saturday, February 16, 2013

The danger will rise to MODERATE for wet avalanches today on the steep east to south to west facing slopes. Natural and human triggered wet sluffs will be likely into the afternoon.

An isolated pockety MODERATE still exists:

  • in the alpine for triggering shallow wind drifts up to a foot deep
  • persistent slabs up to 3' deep in northerly>easterly thin snowpack areas.
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Weather and Snow

Skies are clear with overnight lows in the low 20s along the ridgelines; cold air pooling in the basins and drainages have temps in the upper single digits and low teens. Increasing westerlies overnight have anemometers in the 15-20mph with gusts to 30. 11,000' wind speeds are in the 30s.

Southerly aspects will be crusted over this morning; sheltered northerly slopes still hold good soft snow.

Recent Avalanches

Perhaps what concerns me most is what happened two days ago. To be sure, the north and westerly winds played a role, but those snake-in-the-grass facets from early January showed their hand once again. This in not verified, but it's my suspicion. Photos below, Miller Hill (northerly at 9500') area south of Snowbird (1st pic), and high east facing Maybird (Konigsberg pic from a distance). Both reports involved cracking and collapsing prior to release. Note the Miller Hill avalanche did not run...

Yesterday yielded a couple 1' deep and 50' wide wind slabs triggered by explosives and a couple shallow wet slabs triggered by skiers exiting down the south facing Emma Ridges into LCC in the afternoon. These were roughly 5" deep and 20' wide, running over 300' down the gulley.

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Avalanche Problem #1
Wet Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description

Feels like spring. Shallow wet sluffs and wet slabs will be more problematic today with direct sun and daytime highs reaching the low 40s. Long wave radiational cooling and overnight lows in the teens and 20s will have left a good frozen crust on the steeper sunny aspects; still - plan your exits and timing with care. It'll be likely you can trigger more wet unconsolidated snow if moving through the steeper terrain by midday on the east facing slopes and late afternoon on south and westerlies. If you find yourself up to your boot-tops or riding through sloppy unconsolidated wet snow, change aspects or slope angle. Graceful and timely exits are the ticket for today.

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

Old and new wind drifts may still be triggered in open lee terrain today and most pronounced on steeep northeast through south facing slopes. These will be isolated and pockety though still worth a mention if traveling into the alpine today.

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

These are the days you wish for the old "pockets" - the little dots on the map so as to not over emphasize how likely it may be to trigger one and widespread they are, They're perhaps most pronounced in the north through easterly terrain above about 8500'. Odds are low to trigger one; confidence in where trigger points are is as well. See recent activity above for more details.

Additional Information

The bluebird will sing today. Temps will rise into the low 40s at 10,000' and near freezing at 10,000'. The westerly winds are expected to be in the 20mph range with occasionally higher averages and gusts along the highest peaks and ridgelines. A weak cold front grazes by to the north tomorrow, dropping temps back to the low teens in the afternoon. We may see a trace and a half out of it before high pressure builds back in for Monday. A large Pacific storm moves into the region Tuesday with continued storms through the rest of the week and through the weekend. I would hesitate to imply heavy snowfall...just prolonged snowfall over that 7 day period...Stay tuned.

General Announcements

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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 (801-745-3772 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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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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