Provo Avalanche Advisory

Forecaster: Drew Hardesty

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Today will be our last daily forecast for the season. We may issue bulletins as conditions warrant.

We'd like to thank you, the public, for your support through the years. We'd also like to thank the Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center - an inspired and inspiring group of people dedicated to the cause of keeping people safe in the backcountry - Board President Paul Diegel, Colleen Graham, Mike Brehm, Scott Martin, Rich Mrazik, Jen Logan, John Curtis, Curt Kennedy, and Reid Persing. Ski Utah and our premier mountain resorts. UDOT. Utah State Parks, critical partners for us across the state. And many others from pubic and private industry - Black Diamond, Backcountry.com, REI, and many other important supporters found here. Thanks.

Look for our Annual Report due out sometime early summer. Archived Reports can be found here.

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 isgenerallyLOWtoday, with pockets ofMODERATEdanger on steep, mid and upper elevation northerly facing slopes for triggering a 1 to 2 foot deep slide, especially on wind drifted slopes. There is also aMODERATEdanger for wet loose and wet slab avalanches all the way around the compass, and may be more pronounced on the mid and low elevation shady aspects.

CURRENT CONDITIONS

Under partly cloudy to mostly cloudy skies, temperatures have continued to warm, with ridgetop temps climbing into the mid to upper 30s. Snow surfaces will have a thin skin of a refreeze at best - and in areas out of the wind will soften earlier than the previous number of days. What's left of the West Desert from late March's wind event will likely be blowing through the Wasatch through late Monday. The south to southwesterly winds are already blowing 35-45mph with gusts to 70. By tomorrow they should be pushing 50-60mph with gusts to 80. Or more.

RECENT ACTIVITY

A backcountry party actually witnessed a glide avalanche in Broads Fork of Big Cottonwood canyon yesterday. Otherwise, some limited greenhousing enhanced some wet sluff activity along the Park City ridgeline, but most prudently avoided overstaying their welcome on the baking slopes.

It's a different story in the Western Uintas. We heard of a very close call outside of Oakley near the 1000 Peaks area. Yesterday, a snowmobiler triggered a reported 400' wide hard slab that buried one sledder to his neck and another to his waist. The trigger himself was not buried. Glad all's ok and we appreciate the call. We'll try to have more info later today.

THREAT #1
WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

Approach the steep, northerly facing slopes with the usual caution – with 50 to 100 inches of snow in the past 10 days, there are layers in the snow that could still be triggered by a person, including wind drifts, lower density snow and graupel (pellet snow), which is pooled beneath cliffs and on lower angle terrain. Continue to place ski and slope cuts across the upper starting zones, move one at at time through exposed areas, and stay focussed. Remember even a pried out shallow wind pocket can have disastrous consequences above unforgiving terrain.

The stronger winds will likely erode some of the remaining soft snow in the high elevations and form pockety wind slabs in the steep northerly to easterly terrain. Approach this terrain with a wind shell and caution.

THREAT #2
WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 12 hours.

Cloud cover will be hit and miss today. A thin to non-existent refreeze will have the wet issues start earlier today. Avoid any steep terrain that has had too much sun and heat and starts to become punchy and/or saturated. The wind will be something of a limiting factor, but areas out of the wind will likely start to become wet and unsupportable by midmorning, if not earlier. These are manageable issues. Choose when and where you want to be based upon the conditions.

THREAT #3
WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

Warming temperatures will continue to weaken these yawning waves. Give them a wide berth. Remember last week's fatality unfortunately had the victim collapse a large cornice, only to ride over cliffbands and trigger other slides on the way down.

MOUNTAIN WEATHER

We'll see partly to mostly cloudy skies and continued warm temperatures across the range. Ridgetop temps will rise into the upper 30s to low 40s with 8000' temps spiking into the 50s. The southwesterly winds will increase today and tomorrow and are expected to reach 50-60mph along the highest elevations. The storm spinning off the California coast will move inland, bringing rain and snow to the state, with 4-8" or more possible from late Monday through late Tuesday. We'll see some clearing through the rest of the week.

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

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 (801-620-1000/1017) 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.

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.

I 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.