Provo Avalanche Advisory

Forecaster: Evelyn Lees

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

On March 11th and 13th, the Utah Avalanche Center and SheJumps will team up to provide a Backcountry 101 class for women only. We will have a Friday night lecture and a Sunday field day to teach youthe basics of how to ski / ride avalanche smart in the Utah backcountry andgive you the confidence and skills to make good decisions for yourself and your group in the backcountry. Details here.

There are just a few lift tickets left - to Sundance and Wolf Mountain ski resorts – 100% of the sale of these donated tickets goes to support the Utah Avalanche.


BOTTOM LINE

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


Danger Rose Tutorial

There is a lot to keep track of today.

· The avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE (Level 3) for stubborn wind slabs on mid and upper elevation slopes, especially northwest through east. Cornices are breaking back further than expected.

· As the day heats up, the danger of wet loose slides will increase to Moderate (Level 2) on steep sunny slopes and low elevation northerly facing slopes.

· And finally, there remain very isolated places where a person could trigger a large, deep avalanche, taking out several storms worth of snow, higher elevation, northerly facing slopes, rocky, thin shallow snowpack. These continue to rate a CONSIDERABLE danger due to their potential consequences.


CURRENT CONDITIONS

It is a mild morning, with clear skies and 10,000’ temperatures near 20. The southwesterly winds finally decreased late yesterday afternoon, and are in the 15 to 25 mph range, with gusts 25 to 30 mph in the Salt Lake and Park City area mountains. The Ogden area mountains have higher winds speeds - averaging to 35 mph, with gusts to 50, and the Provo area mountains have speeds somewhere in between.

Between the sun and the wind, snow conditions are variable at best, with soft snow remaining only on very wind sheltered, northerly facing slopes.


RECENT ACTIVITY

The focus of yesterday’s avalanche activity was wind related – both natural and skier released soft and hard wind slabs occurred in all areas, most on northerly facing slopes being loaded by the southwesterly winds. Several are posted in Current Conditions with more to come. Some were just big enough to take you for a ride, such as on Patsy Marley and Kessler, but stand outs include a 1000’ wide slide in Bunnels Fork in the Provo area mountains and a deep natural in Ogden area mountains, out of bounds to the north of Powder Mountain, about 6’ deep by 300’ wide, and a natural on Tuscarora, 5’ deep by 150’ wide, no additional info. Cornices were very sensitive, breaking easily, some dropping off naturally, and then triggering small wind slabs below.

There is more evidence of large, natural deep slab avalanches from over the weekend, especially in the Provo area mountains, with more isolated, but equally scary slides, in the Salt Lake mountains – Alexander and Mill B.


THREAT #1

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

Wind slabs, wet slides and deep slabs are all issues today.

Most of yesterday’s wind slabs will be hard slabs today, so they will not respond well to slope cuts, but will tend to break out above you. This means even shallow slabs can catch and carry you – serious if they dump you off a cliff or into trees. These hard, cracky, hollow sounding wind drifts should be avoided, and will be on both upper elevation and mid elevation slopes due to yesterday’s strong winds. Cornices are a mixed bag – some of the new ones are soft and sensitive, but a few old hard ones are breaking way back, much further than expected. Give them a wide berth.


THREAT #2

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 9 hours.

Today will be the warmest, sunniest day since the weekend storm. While the snow on south facing slopes has eased out somewhat, it will get wet on steep sunny slopes today. Wet sluffs will become easy to trigger, and could entrain a lot of snow in steep terrain. The usual protocol applies – stay off of and out from under steep, sunny slopes once the snow heats up by changing aspect. The wild card may be the cold snow on the low elevation, northerly facing slopes. If we get the right combination of high thin clouds this afternoon, these slopes will have sensitive, damp sluffs, too.


THREAT #3

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

In very isolated areas, it is possible for a person to trigger a deep, deadly slide. Evidence of large natural slides during the storm and deep explosive triggered slides at a few of the resorts should be enough to keep this possibility in the front of your mind. Avoid super steep slopes, those with shallow snow packs, rocky terrain and slopes that are unsupported below.


MOUNTAIN WEATHER

It will be warm and sunny today, with 8,000’ highs in the upper 30’s and 10,000’ temperatures in the upper 20’s. The southerly winds should average less than 15 mph, with only the highest peaks averaging to 25 mph, with gusts to 35. The current stronger wind speeds in the Ogden area mountains should decrease this afternoon. Increasing clouds and winds on Wednesday and Thursday, with a few snow showers possible. A weak cold front should cross the area Thursday night and Friday, with a potentially decent storm early next week.


GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

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 by clicking HERE

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.


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.