Pockets of CONSIDERABLE (L3) danger exist in the upper elevation wind drifted north through southeast facing slopes. Wind drifts are expected to remain sensitive to human triggering. Remotely triggered slides are possible. Cornices remain a significant concern for those travelling the ridgelines. Deep slab releases are unlikely, but potentially fatal upon release. Avoid the steep mid to low elevation slopes if they become damp and unstable with the potential for light rain and warm temps...

Overcast skies and light snow, rime, and graupel falling hint at the weak storm passing by to the north. Temperatures are 20 degrees along the Ogden skyline. You’d never guess that the winds are again the main feature to write home about. The northwesterly winds are punishing the ridgetop anemometers at speeds of 30mph with gusts to 40. They’ll remain strong throughout the day. It’ll be a far cry from yesterday – one of the better days of the year – as nearly everyone and their dog wrote or called to let me know. Wind damage now joins yesterday’s sun damage and the savvy will head for the sheltered mid-elevations.

Backcountry riders and skiers were out in droves yesterday with some triggering or happening upon recent avalanches. People triggered new wind drifts on the south face of Superior, the west face of Millicent Peak in the Brighton backcountry, and on Willard Peak’s eastern slopes in the Ogden high country. These were all steep wind or cross-loaded slopes between 9200’ and 10,300’ and 10-16” deep and up to 250’ wide.

(Thanks to the person who reported the Millicent slide to the ski patrol. This saves the rescue teams from having to do a search in the debris – an effort which can subject the teams to unnecessary hazards as well as pulling them away from other tasks at hand.)

Natural cornice-fall and cornice-fall triggered avalanches continue to hammer the range. Two old dogs spotted new activity – one in mid-Days Fork of Big Cottonwood where a cornice pulled out a 2’ deep and 25’ wide wind pocket that ran over 1000’. This in steep east facing rocky terrain at 10,100’. To the north and west, a cornice likely pulled out a deep hard slab avalanche in upper Alexander Basin. This avalanche released on a very steep northeast facing path at 10,100’. Dimensions were not noted but the debris pile speaks to a larger release into old snow.

The UDOT Provo Canyon boys walked up into the Giant Staircase on the north side of Timpanogos to glean some info on the very large (enough to take out small village) avalanche that released some time Saturday night into Sunday. They and the Wasatch Powder Bird guides also eyeballed a similar sized cornice-triggered natural high off the Cascade ridgeline that ran during the windy period on Monday. These slides are MASSIVE. Check out these and other avalanche photos under Current Conditions.

I’m not much for these windy warm air advection weather patterns. Kind of a wet blanket on top of yesterday’s 5 star conditions. We’ll have overcast skies, temps rising to near 30 at 10,000’ and the upper 30s at 8000’. Winds will remain out of the north, blowing 35-45mph. Gusts to and over 70mph are expected. Riming and a couple inches of dense snow can be expected through tomorrow, with the Logan area mountains picking up perhaps 3-6”. Ridging and an associated heat wave kicks in for Friday into Saturday with 10,000’ temps spiking toward the mid 40s. A good healthy winter storm arrives Saturday night.

If you trigger an avalanche in the backcountry - especially if you are adjacent to a ski area – please call the following teams to alert them to the slide and whether anyone is missing or not. Rescue teams can be exposed to significant hazard when responding to avalanches, and do not want to do so when unneeded. Thanks.

Salt Lake – Alta Central (801-742-2033)

Ogden – Snowbasin Patrol Dispatch (801-620-1017)

Provo – Sundance Patrol Dispatch (801-223-4150)

Discount Lift tickets: Ski Utah, Backcountry.com, Alta, Deer Valley, Park City, The Canyons, Wolf Mountain, Snowbasin, Beaver Mountain, Brighton, Sundance, and Solitude have donated a limited number of tickets for sale.

Wasatch Powderbird Guides flight plan.

Dawn Patrol Forecast Hotline, updated by 05:30: 888-999-4019 option 8.

Daily observations are frequently posted by 10 pm each evening.

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UDOT canyon closures UDOT at (801) 975-4838

You have the opportunity to participate in the creation of our own community avalanche advisory by submitting avalanche and snow observations. You can also call us at 801-524-5304 or 800-662-4140, or email by clicking HERE

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The information in this advisory is from the U.S. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.

We will update this forecast tomorrow morning. Thanks for calling.