Forecast: Salt Lake Area Mountains - Utah Avalanche Center

Forecast for the Salt Lake Area Mountains

Issued by Mark Staples on
Sunday morning, December 29, 2019

Watch for soft slabs of wind drifted snow at upper elevations where the avalanche danger is MODERATE. At mid and lower elevations, avalanche conditions are generally safe and the avalanche danger is LOW.

A low danger means that avalanches are unlikely but danger still exists. Travel smart and only expose one person at a time to avalanche terrain. Don't let the excitement of great powder lull you into being complacent in how you travel.

Low

Moderate

Considerable

High

Extreme

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Weather and Snow

Yesterday winds increased for a short period before noon and then eased. Clouds stuck over the mountains produced a few inches of very light snow yesterday afternoon.

This morning mountain temperatures are hovering near 0 degrees F. Winds at the highest elevations are averaging 20 mph gusting 30 mph from the NW. At most other places northerly winds are generally light, blowing 5 mph gusting 10 mph.

Today will have similar weather with cold temperatures that will struggle to break into the single digits and teens F. Northerly winds will remain light in most places but should blow about 20 mph at the upper elevations. Cloudy skies should produce a few more inches of very light snow today.

Looking ahead - a decent storm system should arrive around New Year's day bringing several days of snowfall that could be measured in feet not inches. Stay tuned.

Riding conditions are 5 star. The snow is supportable and the powder is perfect on all aspects.

Stay current on the last week or weather and avalanche activity in the Week in Review.

Recent Avalanches

Soft slabs of wind drifted snow produced shallow avalanches yesterday. A few were noted by ski areas and ski guides. One group in the lower reaches of Mineral Basin had a group of riders enter the slope above them and trigger a wind slab about 10 inches deep and 90 feet wide (photo below). They were able to trigger other wind slabs of similar depths.

Further north on Ben Lomond Peak near Ogden, skiers found predictable wind drifting and cracking of these fresh slabs (video below) which is a sign of instability.

Untitled from Brad McQueen on Vimeo.

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

Northerly winds have created soft slabs of wind drifted snow at upper elevations. Because the powder is so light and fluffy, winds can easily transport it. The resulting wind slabs are resting on very light powder and should easily fracture and produce avalanches about a foot deep. Fortunately, this avalanche problem is easy to identify visually. If you can see it, then you can avoid it.

In many places below 9500 feet in elevation, winds have not drifted snow and this avalanche problem doesn't exist.

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

There is a very low chance of triggering a hard slab avalanche that breaks on a persistent weak layer of faceted snow near the ground. We typically find this layer at elevations above 9000 feet and it becomes more widespread above 9500 feet on NW through E aspects. A lack of avalanche activity, a lack of collapsing and cracking on this layer, and consistently good scores in stability tests tell us this layer is mostly dormant; however, it is not extinct.

Yesterday in Broads Fork in Big Cottonwood Canyon, Trent and I felt comfortable skiing a steep NE-facing slope, but we chose to stack the odds in our favor and avoided the steepest and rockiest part of the slope. If there was a place to trigger an avalanche on this layer, it would be in these rocky areas.

When will this layer go away?

General Announcements

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

Observations and Avalanches

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