Forecast: Salt Lake Area Mountains - Utah Avalanche Center

Forecast for the Salt Lake Area Mountains

Issued by Trent Meisenheimer on
Saturday morning, March 1, 2025

The avalanche danger is MODERATE on all aspects and elevations. On mid and upper-elevation slopes facing northwest through east - including some upper-elevation slopes facing west and southeast - it remains possible to trigger an avalanche 2-4 feet deep failing on a persistent weak layer.

With daytime heating, we can expect human-triggered and natural avalanches involving wet snow on aspects facing east, south, and west - including low and mid-elevation northerly slopes.

Watch for glide avalanches in Broads Fork, Mill B South, and Stairs Gulch of Big Cottonwood Canyon.

Low

Moderate

Considerable

High

Extreme

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Weather and Snow

Current mountain temperatures are strongly inverted, with trailheads at 19 °F while upper elevation peaks range from 35- 41 °F. The wind is out of the east-southeast and hardly blows with speeds of 5-10 mph. Temperatures this morning are about 4-6 degrees warmer than yesterday.

Today, we will have plenty of sunshine as high pressure continues. The wind will have an east component as a closed low spins to our south. However, wind speeds will remain calm, with ridgetop wind in the 5-10 mph range. Mountain temperatures will climb into the upper 40s to low 50s °F today.

There will be a shorter window of supportable snow today as we have a shallow overnight refreeze of the snowpack. Yesterday in Mineral Fork, we found some cold snow with a slight heat crust on top that still rode well. In the sun, the snow turned soft and sticky. The exit was the biggest frustration as you rode through slush and teeth-chattering ice. Good times.

Recent Avalanches

The usual round of wet loose avalanches happened again yesterday with daytime heating and direct sunlight.

Observations and Avalanches

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

With warm temperatures and plenty of sunshine we can expect the snow surface to melt and become unstable with daytime heating. Remember, if you're seeing roller balls or the snow becomes unsupportable, it's time to head to cooler aspects or seek lower-angled terrain. Wet-snow avalanches can run very far, especially in confined gully features. Today is not the day to be in steep sunny terrain in the late afternoon.

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

It remains possible to trigger an avalanche 2-4 feet deep on a persistent weak layer in the snowpack. These layers move towards dormancy, and the likelihood slowly decreases each day. However, the snowpack is so variable right now. This means that in one place, you can have a deep and strong snowpack while in another place, the snowpack is shallow. Look at the pictures below. The image on the right and in the middle is a snowpit with a total depth of 195 cm (6 feet). At the same time, the image on the right is a snowpit of a slope that has previously avalanched and only has a 100 cm depth (3.2 feet) and has weak faceted snow below. Dave Kelly also got full propagation results at this location. This would be the exact location where you can still trigger a slab avalanche.

For now, my advice would be to probe (check depth) and dig down in the snowpack before committing to any steep north-facing terrain and make sure the slope has not avalanched before. Steep rocky terrain or slopes with a shallow snowpack would also be very suspect for harboring weaker snow. The other option is to continue avoiding steep shady terrain where these layers still exist.

Additional Information

Be sure to read Nikki's Week in Review with a summary of significant snow, weather, and avalanche events from this past week.

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