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Forecast for the Salt Lake Area Mountains

Drew Hardesty
Issued by Drew Hardesty on
Thursday morning, February 9, 2023
Areas of MODERATE avalanche danger exist on many aspects of the mid and upper elevations.
You may be able to trigger a soft or hard slab of wind drifted snow in or adjacent to steep terrain today. Heightened avalanche conditions exist on specific terrain features. Anticipate slide-for-life conditions on some steep bullet-proof crusts on sunny aspects this morning.
Low
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Considerable
High
Extreme
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Weather and Snow
To borrow from Masahide (1657–1723)
~
Barn's blown over,
now
I can see the moon.
wind ripping in Little Cottonwood Canyon (Staples)
Wind gusts at 11,000' reached near 100mph from the west-northwest yesterday. Mercifully, winds are now light from the north, but the damage is done. It's as if the 1-2" of new snow was something of an apology from the storm that raced off to the east.
Skies are clear. Mountain temperatures teeter on either side of 0°F.
Slide-for-life conditions may exist on the steep sunny aspects this morning with wind damage now the rule not the exception on the northerly slopes.
For today, we'll have sunny skies, light northerly winds, and temperatures rising to the upper teens by the afternoon. Mostly sunny skies with occasional garbage clouds forecast for the weekend as a cut-off Low dives well to the south. Mountain temps will be reasonable but the cut-off Low will have some influence on our wind. The next storm arrives Tuesday.
Recent Avalanches
None. Few folks out yesterday.
See the full list of avalanche activity where you can filter avalanches by region and date.
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Avalanche Problem #1
Wind Drifted Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
Be on the lookout for localized hard slabs of wind drifted snow scattered across the landscape. They'll be in unusual areas and pockety (ie: not well connected) in nature.
Still, hard slabs pose problems of their own:
  • they often allow one or two riders to traverse over them before the third (fourth? fifth?) rider collapses the thinner part of the teardrop, shattering it like a pane of glass
  • hard slabs commonly fracture after you're well on to the slab
  • lots of spatial variability: welded in and stable here...or initially stubborn only to fracture there
  • cracking and collapsing may not be present
  • hard slabs may pull back onto lower angle slopes
(national avalanche center encyclopedia)
Remember: with soft slabs, you're generally riding "in" the snow; with hard slabs, you're generally riding "on top of" the hard snow. Ask any ski patroller what they think of hard slabs, and you'll get an earful that's not fit to print.
*Lastly, Cornices may be particularly tender today and in the coming days: please give them a wide berth. They too can act like hard slabs, breaking back further than you think.
Additional Information
Check out the updated guidance on electronic interference and beacons HERE. The 20/50 rule is that you want your beacon 20cm (8") away from other electronics while transmitting and 50cm (20") away from electronics while searching.
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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.
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