The avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE on steep, wind drifted slopes, with both human triggered and natural avalanches up to two feet deep possible. Out of the wind affected terrain, steep mid and upper elevation slopes have a generally MODERATE danger. There continue to be pockets of MODERATE danger for lingering wet avalanches at low and mid elevations until the snowpack cools. If you stay on wind sheltered slopes less steep than about 35 degrees, the avalanche danger is mostly LOW.

Our stalled winter finally got a jump start last night, with a cold Pacific storm delivering a nice shot of snow. Most stations in the Ogden and Park City mountains are nearing 9”, with the Cottonwoods pushing a foot. The Provo mountains received 3 to 8”, but may catch up as the storm continues to drop south. It’s an excellent start to filling in the old tracks and sestrugi. Just when we thought we’d ditched the pulverizing winds, they annoyingly increased again in the past few hours. The more exposed stations in the Provo area mountains are blown in the 20 to 30 mph range for a few hours, with gusts in the 40s and 50s from a westerly direction. Mid elevation stations have speeds of 10 to 15 mph, with gusts in the 20s and 30s.

The resort snow cat drivers in Little Cottonwood have reported natural avalanche activity this morning in wind effected terrain. Yesterday, no new avalanches were reported, though we did receive a report of a notable wet slab triggered Tuesday - see photos. If you’re heading north, a sizable slide failed on surface hoar north of Logan.

As the cold front moves south, the heavy snowfall in the northern mountains will decrease and become more showery by mid morning. Additional amounts of 1 to 3” are expected, with locally higher amounts possible. Temperatures will be in the low 20s at 8,000’ and near 10 at 10,000’. Winds will be from a southwest to westerly direction, in the 5 to 15 mph range with gusts to 25. More exposed locations will have averages close to 25 mph, with gusts in the 40’s and 50’s. The next storm system will cross the area Friday afternoon through Friday night, with another shot of snow and dropping temperatures into the low single digits. A third storm is on track for late Sunday into Monday.

Our web page is now mobile-friendly for users of iPhone and iPod Touch.

Wasatch Powderbird Guides have been grounded due to weather. Their operations planning page is here.

Beacon training parks are up and running! There is one at Snowbasin, one on the Park City side at the top of Canyon’s gondola toward the Tombstone lift, one in Little Cottonwood near the Snowbird parking structure on the bypass road, and in Big Cottonwood a training park is at the west end of Solitude's lower parking lot.

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UDOT highway avalanche control work info can be found by calling (801) 975-4838. Our statewide toll free line is 1-888-999-4019 (early morning, option 8).

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Your snow and avalanche observations can save someone’s life. Please let us know what you're seeing by leaving a message at (801) 524-5304 or 1-800-662-4140, or email us at uac@utahavalanchecenter.org. (Fax 801-524-6301).

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.

Bruce Tremper will update this advisory by 7:30 tomorrow morning.