Provo Avalanche Advisory

Forecaster: Brett Kobernik

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 at Level 2 (MODERATE). This includes the possibility of triggering a fresh wind slab as well as the chance for triggering a deep slab avalanche. Keep in mind that while the chance for triggering a deep slab is moderate, the consequences are HIGH! Continue to be wary of upper elevation northwest through easterly facing terrain. The danger is more pronounced outside of the Cottonwoods.


CURRENT CONDITIONS

Under cloudy skies we have temperatures in the upper teens to low 20s. A trace to an inch of snow fell in some mountain locations. Winds picked up a bit yesterday afternoon into the evening at least along the higher terrain with gusts in the 50s and have since slowed a bit again. It looks like the low and mid elevation terrain was spared from the winds for the most part.


RECENT ACTIVITY

There were no significant human triggered avalanches on Tuesday and people found the new snow had stabilized significantly. There were a few reports of skier initiated sluffs running pretty good and a couple of very minor skier initiated soft slabs. We got a pretty good look around at the activity that occurred during the storm Monday night. In the Salt Lake/Park City Ridgeline regions, natural activity was mostly in the form of loose snow avalanches with some new snow soft slabs and no deep slabs reported. The resorts, however, did get a couple of avalanches to break into deeper weak layers with explosives. The Provo region had a more significant new snow soft slab avalanche cycle which produced a handful of deep slab releases that, obviously, were much more dangerous avalanches. This was interesting in that the Provo area only received about a foot of snow containing much less water weight than the Salt Lake region received.


THREAT #1

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

Fresh wind slabs that formed over the last 24 hours will probably be the most common type of “triggerable” avalanche today. Perhaps these won’t be sensitive but there was no doubt recent wind transported snow so treat upper elevation north through east facing slopes as if they may release until you’ve done enough testing on a variety of slopes to get a handle on how sensitive any new wind slabs are.


THREAT #2

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

And then there’s the deep slabs. Dang it!! I don’t like to have to keep crying wolf about these things but they won’t allow me to feel totally at ease especially as I get away from the Cottonwoods and into thinner snowpack areas. I spent my day around Timpanogos on Tuesday and found at least one of these monsters had released during the storm. (DETAILS) Bill Nalli of UDOT Provo also submitted info on a couple of deep slabs from Timp. (DETAILS) Provo only received about an inch of water yet this was enough to overload the deeper weakness. This demonstrates how things are not as sensitive in the Cottonwoods which received 2 to 3 feet of snow with upwards of 3 inches of water with no natural deep slab releases. Watch the outlying terrain.


MOUNTAIN WEATHER

We’ll see more clouds as the day progresses today. Temperatures warm a bit but won’t get too warm, only into the mid 20s along the ridges. Winds should stay in the moderate category along the ridges from the west and light to moderate in the mid elevations. Southerly flow increases over the next couple of days with milder temperatures and a brush-by storm advertised for more northern Utah Friday with a short period of snowfall.


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

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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.


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.