Forecast: Salt Lake Area Mountains - Utah Avalanche Center

Forecast for the Salt Lake Area Mountains

Issued by Nikki Champion on
Thursday morning, December 9, 2021

This morning the overall avalanche danger is LOW rising to MODERATE as the storm develops.

The danger will rise to MODERATE on all upper elevation slopes and mid-elevation NW, N, NE, and E facing slopes where today’s new snow may produce some long-running sluffs, and possibly some soft slab avalanches where the new snow rests on old, weak faceted snow.

Additionally, the elevated wind may create small unstable slabs of wind-drifted snow at upper elevations.

The avalanche danger will remain LOW at mid-elevation slopes facing W through SE and all lower elevation slopes.

There is still a significant danger of hitting rocks, stumps, and other obstacles. These hazards will hard to see, but they will be easy to hit as they become covered with new snow. Go slow and be careful.

Low

Moderate

Considerable

High

Extreme

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Special Announcements

This week is the third annual avalanche awareness week here in Utah. A lot is going on with over 20 different events around the state. You can find all the events HERE.

Weather and Snow

Under mostly cloudy skies, snow is lightly falling in the mountains. Temperatures range from the upper teens F° to upper 20s F°. Winds are primarily West-Southwesterly and blowing at speeds of 10-15 mph with gusts up to 25 mph at mid-elevations. At the highest ridgelines, winds are blowing close to 30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph. So far this morning, the storm has been off to a slow start with only 1-3" of new snow on the ground.

Today, the storm should continue to expand across Northern Utah and into the Cottonwoods. This will bring higher snowfall rates from mid-morning into the early evening today. Temperatures will climb into the upper 20s F°, and winds will remain West-Southwesterly averaging 10-20 mph with gusts up to 45 mph at the highest ridgelines. By this evening, snowfall totals are expected to be 7-12" (0.5-0.9 H2O), before the snowfall begins tapering off.

Tonight, temperatures will drop and snowfall rates will decrease, but we can still expect another 3-6" of snow before the morning. Winds will pick up and transition to the Northwest, averaging 15-30 mph with gusts up to 60 mph at the highest ridgelines. A bit of good news is a secondary trough should ramp snowfall back up on Friday and bring the overall snow totals to 14-28"(1.0-1.75 H2O). Keep your fingers crossed.

Recent Avalanches

No new avalanches have been reported from the backcountry. However, two recent avalanche accidents have led to tragedy in both Canada and Austria.

Catch up on the recent observations found HERE.

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

Heads Up: The slopes that we will want to ride, are the slopes that held any snow prior to this storm system. The issue is, these slopes are exactly the ones where the snow surface has become weak and faceted, and the new snow likely won’t bond well too.

For this same reason, the new snow should easily sluff and produce small loose snow avalanches, especially during any periods of higher snowfall rates. What I'm uncertain about is whether or not the new snow will bond to itself and act as a cohesive slab. The good news is that this new snow should show you obvious signs of instability like collapsing, whumpfing, and shooting cracks. Look for these signs, and if you see them, this is your sign that the new snow has become cohesive and will produce a slab avalanche.

Overall, there is a lot of variability in snow surfaces throughout the backcountry right now. Some slopes hold old weak faceted snow of the surface, some slopes have a breakable crust, and some slopes possess only dirt. What this means is that while avalanches may not be widespread over the next few days, with the increase in snow and winds, we have all the ingredients for avalanches and we will begin to see them occurring.

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

Winds were cranking at 11,000 feet, with gusts above 50 mph and are only expected to increased into tonight. These elevated winds will easily transport any new snow we get at upper elevations.

These wind drifts will be generally shallow and isolated to terrain features that allow for drifting new snow to accumulate, such as ridges, sub-ridges and gullies. Once these wind slabs form they will most likely resting on weak, faceted, old snow that will make them easy to trigger.

Look for obvious signs of wind-drifted snow, such as pillow-shaped slopes, cracking and whumpfing, and avoid those slopes

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

Backcountry Emergency Procedures