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Forecast for the Salt Lake Area Mountains

Drew Hardesty
Issued by Drew Hardesty on
Friday morning, February 4, 2022
The avalanche danger is LOW.
Sluffing is possible in steep northerly terrain and pockets of wind slab exist in isolated areas. Remember that risk is inherent in mountain travel and getting caught in a small avalanche in radical terrain could lead to disaster.
Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
Extreme
Learn how to read the forecast here
Special Announcements
Thanks to the generous support of our local resorts and Ski Utah, discount lift tickets are now available. Support the UAC while you ski at the resorts this season. Tickets are available here.
Weather and Snow
Skies are clear. Temperatures, mercifully, are on the plus side of zero with most stations at or near 24 hour "highs" of 5-10°F! North to northwest winds are light except along the highest elevations where they've been gusting into the 30s and 40s for a couple hours. We got traced again yesterday (Bill Brandt photo). For today, we'll have sunny skies, light northwest winds and temperatures warming into the 20s.
Recent Avalanches
None.
Greg Gagne's patented Week in Review has been published. You can find it HERE> The teaser is below.
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Avalanche Problem #1
Normal Caution
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
Overall, the avalanche danger is LOW and the snow is mostly stable. In isolated areas, you may encounter:
  • Fast and long-running sluffs in the weak and cohesionless surface snow on steep slopes on shady aspects. In confined and sustained terrain features, the sluffs can pile up deeply, especially in terrain traps. Getting caught in one could be serious in consequential terrain. (Video Zack Little)
  • Pockets of fresh wind drifted snow along exposed ridges and in open terrain at the mid and upper elevations. Although drifts will be shallow and not very wide, wind drifts may be sensitive if they have formed on top of weaker snow underneath. Shooting cracks are a good indicator of wind blown snow.
Evaluate each slope and look for any signs of instability such as cracking in fresh wind drifts or long-running sluffs in steep terrain.
Additional Information
I wanted to save the bad news for last. The weather models continue to advertise and promote the continuation of the Ridiculously Resilient Ridge of high pressure.
The screen capture below is of the GFS weather model for next week. It was the best depiction of the large ridge of high pressure that keeps the storms north and east of us perhaps for another two weeks. We'll see.
General Announcements
Who's up for some free avalanche training? Get a refresher, become better prepared for an upcoming avalanche class, or just boost your skills. Go to https://learn.kbyg.org/ and scroll down to Step 2 for a series of interactive online avalanche courses produced by the UAC.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE GENERAL INFO AND FAQ
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.
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