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 generally LEVEL 1 (LOW). Mind the sluffing in the steep confined terrain.

CURRENT CONDITIONS

From the Greek miasma , "pollution," from miainein , "to pollute."

There’s light at the end of the tunnel. A cold front due to arrive overnight should sweep out the thick miasma of smog and particulate matter. It was recommended to carpool, but you never know who you’ll end up with in the back of a pickup truck.

Above the cauldron of pollution, skies are clear, temperatures are in the 20s and winds are light. Riding conditions remain quite good in the loud powder of surface hoar and recrystallized snow. With great coverage, great snow, low danger and fine weather, one would imagine that the vibe would be tranquilo in the backcountry. It wasn’t the case in Cardiff Fork of Big Cottonwood Canyon yesterday. See the write-up to get the partial picture.

RECENT ACTIVITY

Wet and dry sluffing remains the only game in town.

THREAT #1

WHERE

PROBABILITY

SIZE

TREND

Over the next 24 hours.

I’m not optimistic about how things are going to shape up over the next week. We have some exceedingly weak surface snow and surface hoar littered across the landscape at all elevations and many aspects. The weak storm arriving tonight looks like it will arrive with only a little wind and a few inches of snow – thereby insulating what will be our first widespread persistent weakness of the year. Typically strong sun and wind destroy or decay these surface weaknesses, but it’s not looking like this will be the case.

Up until now, the avalanches have been in direct lock-step with the storms, with the cycles looking like a ‘spike’ on an EKG chart. This chapter may be coming to a close with a soon –to-be buried layer of surface hoar and weak sugary faceted snow. After this going-through-the-motions storm rolls out, a strong moist westerly flow arrives late week that should put the avalanche conditions into overdrive. The weather forecast is still a few days out – much can change between now and then.

MOUNTAIN WEATHER

We’ll start to see increasing clouds ahead of tonight’s system. Temps will be in the mid to upper 20s at 10,000’ and the low 30s at 8000’. Winds will be light from the west northwest with higher speeds mostly confined to the highest exposed peaks and ridgelines. We’ll see 2-4” tonight through tomorrow with plummeting temps Sunday into the early part of next week. The mercury on the thermometers in the mountains ought to level out at about zero degrees Fahrenheit.

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

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.

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

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 to uac@utahavalanchecenter.org

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.