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Forecast for the Provo Area Mountains

Issued by Bruce Tremper for
Tuesday, April 9, 2013

New snow depths and wind vary dramatically from place to place, so the avalanche danger will as well.
Travel advice:
Avoid: steep slopes with recent wind deposits, which will look smooth and rounded and feel "slabby".
Jump on test slopes and practice slope cuts before committing to high consequence terrain.

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High
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Weather and Snow

Interesting and complex storm. Cold air spinning around the low in Colorado is spilling over the Wasatch Range from the east and colliding with the somewhat warmer air coming from the north. This has created some 50 mph canyon winds from about Bountiful to Layton. The ridge top winds are mostly from the east to north blowing about 20 mph but very strong winds in the Logan Mountains. Mountain temperatures have dropped to 10 degrees. I would expect riding conditions today to be quite good in wind sheltered areas.

Snow totals and wind are extremely variable but here are some of the numbers:

Park City Resorts, 16"
Upper Cottonwood Canyons 12", wind 10-20 mph from the east

Ogden and Provo Mountains: 5"

Logan Mountains: 1-2 feet, 55 mph winds on Logan Peak with 78 mph gusts

Uinta Mountains: 16" snow with moderate winds from the east.

Recent Avalanches

Yesterday, the new snow was sluffing easily on the old ice crust on slopes of 40 degrees or steeper. Occasionally, they would break out in soft slabs. With more new snow overnight, they should pack more of a punch today.

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

Today, the main problem will be wind slabs within the new snow. Yesterday, they were confined to the upper ridges and were fairly manageable but with 6 more inches of snow overnight they will pack more of a punch today. Ridge top winds are not very strong right now at least in the Wasatch Range but we expect them to pick up and blow 30 mph with higher gusts from the north and east this afternoon. These wind slabs could easily catch and bury a person. I'm guessing they will be quite localized along the upper elevation ridges, especially on the eastern side of the range where the most snow fell and the winds are strongest. Out of the wind, the danger is Moderate but if you find denser, deeper wind slabs on steep slopes, the danger is Considerable. Be sure to jump on test slopes and regularly dig down with your hand to test the snow. Always put in a couple slope cuts before committing to higher consequence terrain.

Note: the slopes are mostly bare on the southerly facing slopes below 8,000'.

Avalanche Problem #2
New Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description

Even out of the wind, you may be able to create small, loose-snow avalanches on old ice crusts slopes of about 40 degrees or steeper and many of these sluffs will be large enough to catch a person.

Additional Information

This is a complex and tricky storm and I have low confidence in this forecast. Snow should diminish today but winds should pick up this afternoon and blow harder in the mountains from the east and north at 30 mph with higher gusts. Temperatures will remain cold, around 10 degrees. On Wednesday we should have partly cloudy skies with diminished wind and temperatures in the 20's.

The extended forecast calls for several more smaller shots of snow, another on Thursday, another on Sunday and yet another about mid next week.

General Announcements

Go to http://www.backcountry.com/utah-avalanche-center to get EVEN MORE DISCOUNTED tickets from our partners at Beaver Mountain and Sundance. 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 (801-745-3772 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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Daily observations are frequently posted by 10 pm each evening.

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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, email by clicking HERE, or include #utavy in your tweet.

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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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