Great news… so far there haven’t been any avalanche fatalities in Utah this winter! It has been 26 years since we’ve had a fatality-free winter. Let’s keep it that way and stay safe this spring. Our goal is for everyone to enjoy the Greatest Snow on Earth and come home safe every day.
The final regular advisory will be this Sunday, April 16. For the rest of the month we'll issue Friday updates for the central Wasatch Mountains and updates any time there is measurable snowfall; however, we will discontinue issuing avalanche danger ratings after Sunday.
Although we will be shutting down regular operations, we will continue to post observations through the end of the month as we receive them, so please do continue to send them to us. You can check the latest observations here. We also follow avalanche-related activity on Instagram - be sure to tag your photos with #utavy .
A dry cold front moved through the Provo mountains at about 8 pm last evening, quickly dropping mountain temperatures in its wake. Temperatures this morning range throughout the upper 20's F and winds are out of the west/northwest and light, gusting in the mid teens at upper elevations. Skies are mostly cloudy.
The snow surface has frozen with the dropping temperatures, and is locked up tightly this morning.
The screenshot is from the Alta Guard weather station in Little Cottonwood Canyon, showing the arrival of the cold front last evening and the temperature drop.
Week in Review [Detailed Version]
A storm system entered the region this past weekend, with warm temperatures and a high rain/snow line on Saturday April 8th.
A cold front with an ample moisture supply late Saturday night and well into the day on Sunday provided nearly 18-24" in the Cottonwoods and Ogden mountains, with 8-15" along the Park City ridgeline. The Provo mountains recorded 3-6". Limited avalanche activity was reported with this storm, with a few slides breaking at a graupel interface of the old snow surface, or within a density inversion within the storm snow.
Monday brought clearing skies, but cool temperatures kept wet activity to a minimum.
A short-duration wind event on Tuesday morning created pockets of wind drifts in isolated terrain, and a wind slab avalanche was triggered by a party of skiers hiking uphill at Snowbird Ski Resort. Another small wind drift was triggered in White Pine in Little Cottonwood canyon.
Warming temperatures highlighted Wednesday and Thursday, but wet activity was minimal.
A dry cold front entered the region Thursday evening, providing a solid refreeze of the snowpack by Friday morning.
No avalanche activity was reported other than minor wet loose activity.