Forecast: Salt Lake Area Mountains - Utah Avalanche Center

Forecast for the Salt Lake Area Mountains

Issued by Nikki Champion on
Friday morning, November 19, 2021

With fresh overnight snowfall, and increasing winds expect an elevated avalanche danger Saturday morning. Pay attention to changing conditions, and increased periods of snowfall. Small avalanches within the new snow and wind drifted snow may be possible in upper elevation terrain where old early season snow exists.

A few things to remember:

Triggering any avalanche regardless of its size can produce serious trauma even if it doesn't bury you because the snowpack is so thin.
Hitting rocks and stumps is a real danger. Don't end your season before it starts with an injury from hitting one of these obstacles.
Early season avalanches are a real possibility. It doesn't matter if you are hiking, hunting, skiing, etc., be prepared with the correct rescue gear and a partner. Many people have died during early season snowstorms.
Ski resorts all have different uphill travel policies. These closed resorts that allow uphill travel can be great places to get in a little skiing especially in you know of a rock-free slope, but it should be treated as backcountry terrain.

We will be issuing intermittent updates and publishing backcountry observations as they arrive. When we begin regular forecasts, we will begin issuing avalanche danger ratings.

Low

Moderate

Considerable

High

Extreme

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Weather and Snow

Starting tonight, a cold front will cross northern Utah. This front is not expected to be very strong, but could bring 3-7" of new snow to the Cottonwoods by Saturday afternoon. Expect winds from the West Southwest gusting below 25 mph at mid-elevations, and gusting up to 40 mph at the upper most elevations. Temperatures will be in the mid to upper 20s F.

For this weekend, the front should pass by Saturday evening bringing mostly sunny skies with mild temperatures are forecasted with overnight lows right around freezing and temperatures rising into the upper 30's F. Winds will be from the west/southwest with gusts near 20 mph.

Looking ahead, after a few clear days it looks as though a weak system should arrive around Tuesday. Although temperatures will drop noticeably behind the front, snowfall amounts are likely to be limited to a few inches.

Recent Avalanches

No avalanche activity has been reported. We have received several observations from the backcountry and this is a great way to stay informed on any recent avalanche activity and current snowpack conditions.

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

If we end up with the upper end of the forecasted snow amounts, we could see small soft slab or loose dry avalanches failing within the storm snow or on the new snow, old snow interface. New snow typically stabilizes quickly (within 24-48 hrs), and it's easy to use small test slopes to see how the new snow is behaving before committing to steep, sustained terrain.

Instability will increase if precipitation rates increase, pay attention to how much and how fast the snow is falling.

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

The current snowpack is generally stable and triggering an avalanche is unlikely. However, with the few inches of new snow and generally elevated winds small areas of recent and fresh wind drifts are possible along upper elevation ridgelines. Look for any signs of wind drifted snow such as texture, pillow shaped, or hollow sounding snow.

Although I expect any avalanches to remain small, obstacles such as rocks, stumps, and downed timber that can turn even a minor avalanche involvement into a consequential accident.

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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