We've continued the SPECIAL AVALANCHE ADVISORY is for the mountains of northern and central Utah, to include all of the Wasatch Range, the western Uintas and the Wasatch Plateau. A WARNINGis in effect for the Bear River Range near Logan. Rain on snow is creating unstable conditions below around 8500 feet in elevation. People should avoid all gullies and stay out from under any steep slope to avoid being caught in natural avalanches. At the upper elevations human triggered avalanches are likely especially on slopes approaching 35 degrees in steepness that face north through southeast.

There is a Level 3 (CONSIDERABLE) avalanche danger on all slopes that are approaching 35 degrees or steeper. Wet avalanches at the lower elevations dictate to stay out of all gullies and out from under all steep slopes. Natural avalanches may pile up deep debris. The possibility of triggering a slab breaking into persistent weakness at the upper elevations dictates we stay off slopes approaching 35 degrees in those locations.

It’s a complete mess out there. We’ve added one to two inches of water mostly in the form of rain over the last 12 hours with only a few inches of snow. There is some sort of ice/riming event going on at the higher elevations. The winds have really ramped up over the last couple of hours with gusts to near 50 mph at Tom’s Hill which is rare for this 9000 foot ridgeline location. Temperatures are in the mid 30s at almost every station.

There was one skier triggered soft slab avalanche reported on north facing Reynolds Peak from Sunday. This appeared to be just a fresh wind slab unrelated to the persistent weakness we’ve been talking about. Some collapsing of the persistent weakness was, however, also reported. UDOT Big Cottonwood reports some class 1 wet loose avalanches along the steep road banks gouging to the ground.

We’ll remain in a somewhat moist west northwest flow today but most of the rain and snow is past. There’s still a chance for a bit this morning but should decrease as the day goes on. Winds are going to continue to howl from a westerly direction through mid day. Temperatures will remain mild and start to cool this afternoon and drop into the teens at the higher elevations tonight. The next chance for snow is Tuesday into Wednesday with about a 6 inch event expected at this point.

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.

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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 by clicking HERE

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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.