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Forecast for the Salt Lake Area Mountains

Greg Gagne
Issued by Greg Gagne for
Sunday, April 24, 2016

We customarily do not issue danger ratings at this point in the season, but rather provide snow and general avalanche information and weather forecasts.

For Sunday, the primary avalanche concerns are fresh wind drifts from the sustained moderate to string winds from the southwest through northwest. If the the sun comes out for any period of time, loose, wet snow avalanches are likely on all aspects. Finally, deep wet slabs remain possible, particularly on steep upper elevation northerly aspects.

Closed ski areas are no longer doing any control work, and travel should be treated no differently than skiing the backcountry.

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Special Announcements

We will continue to issue intermittent advisories through the remainder of the month as conditions warrant.

We will continue to post observations as they are especially important to the backcountry community this time of year. We may also update conditions via social media or issue Warnings if needed through the national weather service. If you see anything you feel we should know about, please submit an observation.

Weather and Snow

As of 7 am Sunday, the Cottonwoods have received about 1 foot of dense storm snow. Late yesterday afternoon the winds began to shift to the west/northwest, and have been blowing in the 20's mph, with gusts in the 40's. Temperatures are in the mid 20's F.

Recent Avalanches

No activity reported, but there have no reports submitted from the backcountry over the past several days, and limited reporting from the few resorts that remain open.

We will continue to post observations - you can find the latest observations here.

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Avalanche Problem #1
Wind Drifted Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description

The sustained moderate to strong winds have likely created sensitive wind drifts at the mid and upper elevations. Although these are likely to be found on north through southeast aspects, strong winds can often channel winds around terrain features, so it is likely you can find fresh drifts on any aspect today.

Avalanche Problem #2
Wet Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description

With partial clearing expected this afternoon, once the sun comes out the new snow will quickly become sensitive to any heating and loose wet slides are likely. Be sure to avoid any avalanche terrain once you see signs of rollerballs and pinwheels.

It is also worthwhile mentioning that the snowpack warmed significantly this past week with no overnight refreezes. Although temperatures have since cooled to below freezing, the storm snow has insulated the snowpack from cooling. Deep wet slabs are possible, particularly on upper elevation northerly aspects. Suspect terrain are areas with a thinner snowpack that is loose and unconsolidated. Today's dense storm snow may provide some support and allow you to get further on a slope. I don't think this issue is widespread, but triggering any deep wet slab is likely to be unmanageable.

Additional Information

Snow showers continue through this morning with a trace to few inches of snow possible; partial clearing expected this afternoon. Temperatures will rise into the upper 20's to mid 30's F. Another round of snow possible overnight, with a generally stormy pattern expected this week.

General Announcements

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Remember your information can save lives. If you see anything we should know about, please help us out by submitting snow and avalanche conditions. You can also call us at 801-524-5304, email by clicking HERE, or include #utavy in your tweet or Instagram.

To get help in an emergency (to request a rescue) in the Wasatch, call 911. Be prepared to give your GPS coordinates or the run name. Dispatchers have a copy of the Wasatch Backcountry Ski map.

Backcountry Emergencies. It outlines your step-by-step method in the event of a winter backcountry incident.

If you trigger an avalanche in the backcountry, but no one is hurt and you do not need assistance, please notify the nearest ski area dispatch to avoid a needless response by rescue teams. Thanks.

EMAIL ADVISORY If you would like to get the daily advisory by email you will need to subscribe here.

DAWN PATROL Hotline updated daily by 5-530am - 888-999-4019 option 8.

TWITTER Updates for your mobile phone - DETAILS

UDOT canyon closures: LINK TO UDOT, or on Twitter, follow @UDOTavy, @CanyonAlerts or @AltaCentral

Utah Avalanche Center mobile app - Get your advisory on your iPhone along with great navigation and rescue tools.

Powderbird Helicopter Skiing - Blog/itinerary for the day

Lost or Found something in the backcountry? - http://nolofo.com/

Ski Utah mobile snow updates

To those skinning uphill at resorts: it is critical to know the resort policy on uphill travel. You can see the uphill travel policy for each resort here.

Benefit the Utah Avalanche Center when you shop from Backcountry.com or REI: Click this link for Backcountry.com or this link to REI, shop, and they will donate a percent of your purchase price to the UAC. Both offer free shipping (with some conditions) so this costs you nothing!

Benefit the Utah Avalanche Center when you buy or sell on ebay - set the Utah Avalanche Center as a favorite non-profit in your ebay account here and click on ebay gives when you buy or sell. You can choose to have your seller fees donated to the UAC, which doesn't cost you a penny.

This information does not apply to developed ski areas or highways where avalanche control is normally done. This advisory is from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always exist.
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