Out of the wind, the danger is mostly LOW for storm snow and loose snow avalanches. With the overnight snow and wind, we’ll have a localized MODERATE DANGER in the steep wind drifted terrain at the mid and upper elevations. Human triggered avalanches up to 2’ deep are possible. If the sun comes out for any extended period of time, the danger of wet activity will also rise to MODERATE.

With another 3-6” overnight, storm totals are now up to 20-24” in the Ogden and Park City mountains, 25-30” in the Cottonwoods, and roughly 8-10” in the Provo area. Densities are of the 5-7% variety and the riding conditions explosive. It’s still snowing - though not for long. Today will be a rest day with another storm on target for tonight into tomorrow. And….things look active well into next week. The northwesterly winds kicked up again in the last few hours and are blowing 20-25mph with gusts to the mid 30s. The highest peaks suffer wind speeds of 35-40mph while even some mid elevations gust to the upper 20s. Temperatures are in the single digits and low teens.

Ski area control teams reported myriad soft wind slabs up to 18” deep in wind loaded terrain. In the backcountry, many slopes were tested without incident; however, separate backcountry ski parties triggered much of the storm snow in steep wind loaded terrain on Kessler Peak (in mid-BCC). Along the eastern edge of what we call God’s Lawnmower, an experienced team collapsed the slope, remotely triggering a 18” deep and 50’ wide pocket that ran well over 1000’. It was on a steep northeast facing slope at 9800’. This ran on preserved low density snow an inch or two above the racing stripe that marks Tuesday/Wednesday’s dust layer.

Wrapping up and to the west – also on Kessler Peak – another party triggered an avalanche into the northwest chutes above Argenta. Dimensions are unknown (to us anyway), but the debris ran over 700’ down the slope with a dust cloud that briefly obscured many of the trees. This is steep northwest facing terrain at roughly 10, 200’.

An experienced tourer managed to intentionally trigger a few shallow new wind slabs in lee terrain.

Snow and winds should begin to taper by midday, making today a rest day. The next storm will be knocking at the door tonight into tomorrow, bringing additional strong wind, much warmer temperatures and up to a foot of heavier snow in the central and northern Wasatch. The weekend and into next week looks quite active. Temps will be in the low teens; wind will be northwesterly blowing 20-25mph this morning before backing to the southwest and losing steam.

The ability to deal with medical emergencies is a vital backcountry travel skill. On April 9-11, Utah Wilderness Safety will be conducting a Wilderness & Remote First Aid course in SLC. As an added bonus, WMS has agreed to donate a percent of the class proceeds to the FUAC. For more details, go to our events calendar or www.utahwildernesssafety.com/FIRST-AID.html.

SLC: Please contact Alta Central (801-742-2033) 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.

Ogden: Please contact Snowbasin ski patrol (801620-1000/1017) 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.

Provo: 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 and the local resorts donated lift tickets, with 100% of the proceeds going to the Utah Avalanche Center. To get the last few tickets left for Park City, Beaver Mountain, and Sundance – click here 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.

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