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Forecast for the Salt Lake Area Mountains

Evelyn Lees
Issued by Evelyn Lees on
Monday morning, November 26, 2018
Any slope with old sugary, faceted snow near the ground is dangerous. Stay off mid and upper elevation slopes facing northwest through easterly, where the avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE and you can easily trigger avalanches breaking 1 to 3 feet deep. Avalanches can be triggered from a distance and from below. Upper elevation west and southeasterly facing slopes have patchier old snow, but can still produce avalanches.
Low angle slopes have great riding conditions, and the danger is LOW on south and southwesterly facing slopes where the new snow landed on bare ground.
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Weather and Snow
The Thanksgiving weekend storm has settled, and the upper elevation snowpack is now two to three feet deep on shady slopes in the Cottonwoods and Park City area mountains, capped with light powder. Low angle slopes riding well. Sadly, the steeper southerly slopes will be crusted this morning. Hitting rocks and logs is common with the overall shallow snow pack.
The will be sunny skies and warm temps today, with highs reaching mid 30s at 10,000’. The northwesterly winds are less than 5 mph this morning, with the highest peaks clocking in at 15 mph, and speeds should remain light through the day. Increasing clouds tomorrow, with a trace to a few inches of snow on Tuesday night, followed by a couple of stronger storms adding snow into the weekend.
Recent Avalanches
There was a skier triggered slide on Reynolds peak and three remotely triggered avalanches in the backcountry yesterday – 2 along the Park City ridge line and one in upper Days Fork. All of these were on steep, northerly facing slopes, 1 to 2 feet deep, up to 150 feet wide and failing on old faceted snow. Resorts also reported numerous avalanches from explosives, ski cuts and remote triggers, again failing on the old snow. Widespread cracking and collapsing continued.
The avalanche list is HERE, including natural activity from the storm and great photos.
Upper photo: Mother-in-law, Park City ridge line, Nat Grainger photo
Lower photo: Reynolds peak, Eric Hobday photo
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Avalanche Problem #1
Persistent Weak Layer
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
It is very simple – steep slopes with old snow are dangerous. Any slope that was white with snow before Thanksgiving has weak, sugary facets near the ground. And now these slopes are loaded with new snow, they are continuing to produce avalanches 1 to 3 feet deep. Slides are being triggered from a distance and from on slope. Unfortunately, most slides are running in the upper layer of the facets, above the October rain crust, and not cleaning out lower facets or crusts.
These old faceted snow layers will remain a dangerous weak layer all week and will become even more reactive the next time it snows.
Avalanche Problem #2
Normal Caution
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
The lower elevations and sunny slopes that were bare ground before Thanksgiving have one to two feet of new snow sitting on dirt and rocks, and a low avalanche danger. Use normal caution - you may be able to trigger a few wet sluffs on the steepest sunny slopes as the snow heats up today, or there could be a small old wind drift that may crack out. Hitting rocks and stumps remains the greatest hazard.
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