SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT |
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Beaver Mountain opened on Monday, and you can get discount lift tickets (here). All proceeds from sales will support the Utah Avalanche Center through the Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center...... |
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BOTTOM LINE
Danger by aspect and elevation on slopes approaching 35° or steeper.
(click HERE for tomorrow's danger rating)
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Danger Rose Tutorial
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There’s a CONSIDERABLE danger in the backcountry today and dangerous avalanche conditions exist on steep slopes with recent deposits of wind-drifted snow.
The danger may be HIGH in some areas. Avalanches on some slopes could step down into old buried weak layers and be large dangerous and destructive. Avoid steep slopes and obvious or historic avalanche paths...Use conservative decision making, careful route finding and good travel habits in the backcountry. Training and experience are essential.
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CURRENT CONDITIONS |
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We'll see a fairly strong winter storm today in the mountains, with strong gusty winds and heavy snowfall. Around a foot of accumulation is expected at upper elevations. As fresh snow is drifted into avalanche starting zones, the avalanche danger will increase accordingly.
Overnight south winds at the Campbell Scientific weather station on Logan Peak averaged over 25 mph with gusts to 50 early this morning. It's 20 degrees at 9400' |
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RECENT ACTIVITY |
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No avalanches were recently reported or observed locally. But, significant natural and human triggered avalanches continued to plague the Central and Southern Wasatch Range over the weekend, and the list of recent backcountry avalanches in the Salt Lake and Park City areas continues to grow at an alarming rate (see Wasatch avalanche list).
It's only a matter of time (and weight) before we start seeing dangerous and large avalanches breaking into old snow in some areas.....Buried weak layers are present and a slab is building up on top of them. It's difficult to tell exactly when a slope will reach the critical balance that will allow you to trigger it, but odds are it'll be a storm like today's that does the trick. |
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THREAT #1 |
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PROBABILITY |
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Over the next
24 hours.
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South winds increased overnight in the mountains and there was already plenty of very soft snow to drift around at high elevations...Strong winds and heavy snowfall will load large quantities of snow over vast areas, even in lee fetch areas well off ridge lines. On many slopes, the new storm snow and fresh wind slabs will stack up on weak surface snow consisting frost crystals or surface hoar that formed overnight under clear sky conditions Saturday night.
Watch for and avoid areas with fresh drifts of smooth, stiffer, wind deposited snow especially in and around terrain features like gullies, cliff bands or roll-offs. |
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THREAT #2 |
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PROBABILITY |
SIZE |
TREND |
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Over the next
24 hours.
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Avalanches on some slopes may break into older snow layers with today's additional load . My biggest concern is the well developed faceted snow directly under the prominent mid-November rain-crust. On some (mainly mid-elevation or shallow upper elevation) slopes this crust is deteriorating, and today's additional load could be enough to cause avalanches to break on the basal layer of the snowpack. Any such avalanche would be large and quite destructive.
Avalanches breaking on weak faceted snow near the ground are also possible today in terrain that didn't have much or any snow cover in November. Cold temperatures in the past two weeks have accelerated the sublimation process that causes faceting, especially on slopes with a shallow overall snow. Today's loading could cause slab avalanches to break near the bottom of the snowpack on some steep mid-elevation slopes... |
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MOUNTAIN WEATHER |
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Expect a strong winter storm to last through today. Heavy snowfall and strong winds are expected...Showery snowfall under a moist southwest flow is expected to continue through the next couple days, with another storm on around Christmas Day. |
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GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS |
If you have observations from the backcountry, especially if you see or trigger an avalanche, please let us know. You can leave a message at (435) 755-3638 or 1-800-662-4140, or email us at uac@utahavalanchecenter.org. (Fax 801-524-6301).
Beaver Mountain opened on Monday, and you can get discount lift tickets (here). All proceeds from sales will support the Utah Avalanche Center through the Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center......
The UAC depends on contributions from users like you to support our work. To find out more about how you can support our efforts to continue providing the avalanche forecasting and education that you expect please visit our Friends page.
The information in this advisory is from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur. |
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This information does not apply to developed ski areas or highways where avalanche control is normally done. This advisory is from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur. |
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This advisory provided by the USDA Forest Service, in partnership with:
The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center, Utah Division of State Parks and Recreation, Utah Division of Emergency Management, Salt Lake County, Salt Lake Unified Fire Authority and the friends of the La Sal Avalanche Center. See our Sponsors Page for a complete list. |
