Observation Date
2/17/2021
Observer Name
Bruce Tremper
Region
Salt Lake » Salt Lake Foothills
Location Name or Route
Avenues - Salt Lake foothills
Weather
Sky
Broken
Wind Direction
North
Wind Speed
Moderate
Weather Comments
Wind switched to mostly northerly. Although the valley had periods of clearing in the afternoon, there was continued, occasional snow squalls impacting the Wasatch Range and the Oquirrh Mountains.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
15"
New Snow Density
Medium
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Snow Characteristics Comments
Since Trent's all-black danger rose at all aspects and elevations, although certainly warrented, scared the bejesus out of me, as if I wasn't scared before. I've been avoiding going up the canyons for fear of valley crasher avalanches catching me someplace unusual, like on the highway. So, we decided to keep it close to home in the foothills above the Avenues of Salt Lake City. Almost all the slopes were mostly bare before this most recent foot and a half of new snow, plus the north wind did quite a bit of drifting, especially around the ridges. Snow was dense and stiff, which was good because it kept you off the rocks--most of the time. But there is a bit of grass and shrubbery sticking up, if you don't mind that kind of thing.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Wind Loading
Red Flags Comments
The foothills seemed like a good place to explore for snow that wasn't likely to kill me. Since it was mostly bare before the most recent snowstorms, I was not aware of any pockets of faceted snow on the shady slopes, but I certainly can't guarantee that there are not some faceted snow booby traps under the new snow on the shady, steep slopes, which I avoided. But after a lot of tromping around over hill and dale, I did not find any unstable snow. The north wind certainly did some damage, especially near the ridges but the wind drifts seemed quite stuck in there with no cracking. There was no lack of skiers and boarders more than happy to be volunteer stability testers and no one triggered avalanches as far as I could see. We might even go back there tomorrow so I don't have to brave the lingering monster avalanches in the Wasatch Range, or equally dangerous traffic in the canyons. I had friends today who explored skiing some gentle slopes amid the scrub oak trees above the East Canyon road near Emigration Canyon and they reported not hitting any rocks.
Comments
1. Tracks above City Creek
2. Yes, definitely steeper than 30 degrees, but it's south facing with nothing but dirt and grass underneath. And it's right above the houses--it's always safe near people's houses, itsn't it? It's a joke, you're supposed to laugh.
A sampling of people out enjoying themselves in the foothills.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
None
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
None
