Provo Avalanche Advisory

Forecaster: Bruce Tremper

BOTTOM LINE

Danger by aspect and elevation on slopes approaching 35° or steeper.
(click HERE for tomorrow's danger rating)


Danger Rose Tutorial

The avalanche danger is MODERATE on any slope approaching 35 degrees or steeper with recent deposits of wind drifted snow. There is also pockets of MODERATE danger for deeper avalanches on slopes facing the north half of the compass. Finally, there is a MODERATE danger of wet sluffs on steep slopes that face the south half of the compass especially as the slopes heat up in the afternoon.


CURRENT CONDITIONS

Temperatures have warmed up considerably from the very cold, near-zero temperatures yesterday. The strong, northwest winds from yesterday morning have diminished to reasonable levels. Ridge top temperatures are in the mid teens and should warm into the mid 20’s today. The snow on the upper and mid elevation north facing slopes continues to be excellent with sun crusts on all the other aspects.


RECENT ACTIVITY

A skier took a ride and suffered serious injuries to both shoulders in Scottie’s Bowl, which is just out-of-bounds from Snowbird Ski Area. The avalanche was 3’ deep and 50 feet wide and it slid about 300 vertical feet. It was in a steep, rocky area above a cliff. The weak layer is unknown. Several other people were able to trigger wind slabs from the very strong northwest winds yesterday morning, but most of these were smaller and more manageable.

But even more interesting, in a late report, on Wednesday in the Logan area mountains, a skier remotely triggered a deep avalanche to the old depth hoar. It was 4’ deep on a NW facing slope, which saw a lot of wind loading from last weekend.

In the Salt Lake area mountains, with the good visibility yesterday, several reports came in of natural avalanches that probably occurred on Wednesday, mostly in more obscure terrain, Stairs Gulch, Broad’s Fork, Lone Peak and Mary Ellen Gulch. These were all probably on surface hoar and most were 2’ deep. But it goes to show that there are still some booby traps out there.


THREAT #1

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

You can still find some lingering wind slabs from yesterday’s strong northwest winds. As always, avoid steep slopes with recent wind drifts. They will look smooth and rounded and feel slabby and sometimes sound hollow.


THREAT #2

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

Although many of the larger, bolder lines have been successfully ridden in recent days, the recent naturals and human triggered avalanches show that there are still some lingering, booby traps on old layers of surface hoar and near-surface faceted snow buried 2-3 feet deep in many areas. These avalanches are hard, deep and unmanageable and they can really ruin your day, as we saw yesterday. These avalanches are hard to detect and predict, so your best strategy is to choose your slope carefully, or better yet, stay on gentler terrain. The snow is fast and fun, so slopes less than 30 degrees work well.


THREAT #3

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 12 hours.

As temperatures rapidly rise today, expect the usual round of wet sluffs on the steep slopes that face the south half of the compass, especially at mid and low elevations.


MOUNTAIN WEATHER

Temperatures will rapidly warm today from the mid teens to above freezing on the ridge tops and warm to near 40 degrees down at 8,000’. Ridge top winds will blow from the southwest 5-10 mph. Skies should be clear.

On Saturday, we have a sharp cold front arriving about mid day. We should have 20-30 mph winds from the southwest in the morning and then 6-12 inches of snow Saturday afternoon through Sunday morning.

The extended forecast calls for nice weather for the rest of the week with perhaps another storm about a week from today.


GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Please contact Sundance ski patrol (801 -223-4150) if you trigger a large avalanche in the backcountry, especially if you are adjacent to a ski area, 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.

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 at discounted prices.

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.

Free UAC iPhone app from Canyon Sports.

Subscribe to the daily avalanche advisory e-mail click HERE.

UDOT canyon closures UDOT at (801) 975-4838

We appreciate all your avalanche and snow observations. You can also call us at 801-524-5304 or 800-662-4140, or fill out the observation form on our home page.

Donate to your favorite non-profit – The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center. The UAC depends on contributions from users like you to support our work.

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 will update this forecast tomorrow morning. Thanks for calling.


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.


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.