An Avalanche Warning is in effect starting 2 pm this afternoon through Thursday for the mountains of northern and central Utah, including the Western Uintas. Heavy snow and strong winds will increase the avalanche danger to HIGH late this afternoon. Large natural and human triggered avalanches are likely during the overnight hours Wednesday and on Thursday. Backcountry travel is not recommended.

Heavy snowfall and sustained southwest winds will cause the avalanche danger to rise significantly and become more widespread throughout today. Strong and sustained westerly winds over the last few days created a level 3 or Considerable danger on drifted upper and mid elevation slopes. Dangerous avalanche conditions already exist this morning, and you are likely to trigger wind slab avalanches on slopes where snow drifted in on top of weak sugary or faceted existing snow. Significant accumulating snow and continuing strong southwest wind will cause the danger to rise to level 4 or High late this afternoon or evening, with large natural avalanches becoming likely overnight and tomorrow... You should avoid travel in avalanche terrain

Heavy snowfall and sustained strong west winds will put a quick and heavy load on exceptionally weak existing snow and cause increasingly dangerous avalanche conditions in the backcountry today... The Campbell Scientific weather station on Logan Peak recorded sustained southwest winds overnight of around 30 mph, with gusts in the 50s early this morning. It's 10 degrees at the 9700' communications tower. I'm reading 17 degrees at the 8400' Tony Grove Snotel, with 34 inches of total snow, containing only 45% of normal water for the date...

Forecasters triggered a large hard slab yesterday afternoon on Wolf Creek Pass in the Western Uintas... They intentionally triggered the 3-foot-deep avalanche from a very low angled ridge.... The avalanche was very sensitive or easily triggered, and it shows what is likely to occur on many slopes across Northern Utah as very weak faceted snow becomes overloaded by heavy snow and strong winds from the incoming storm. (Go to the Report)

My party almost triggered a large hard slab Saturday off the Providence Canyon/Richard's Hollow ridgeline. Instead we remote triggered extensive shooting cracks around a foot deep and 80 feet wide in a drifted starting zone from the ridge top flats 30 feet above. The sizable slab cracked and moved about 2 inches before stopping. (go to our current conditions page for more details and reports of other recent activity in Utah)

Expect the potential for substantial snowfall in the mountains of Far Northern Utah to begin this morning and continue through the weekend under an increasingly wet, warm, and windy zonal or westerly flow.. After counting meager inches of accumulation in the past month-and-a-half we'll be talking in terms of feet in the next few days. 1 to 2 feet of heavy snow will accumulate on mountain slopes by tomorrow morning. Temperatures and the snow-line will both rise tomorrow, and snowfall and winds will continue in the mountains, with another couple feet possible by Friday morning. And the forecast snow just keeps coming through the weekend, with a nice, well developed storm affecting the entire state late Monday and Tuesday...

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Please send us your observations from the backcountry especially if you see or trigger an avalanche, but also even if you don't.. go to avalanche and snow observations. You can also call me directly at 435-757-7578 or leave us a message at our office, 801-524-5304.... And, you can always send us a simple email by clicking HERE

I will update this advisory by around 7:30 in the morning on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.....

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.