Provo Avalanche Advisory

Forecaster: Drew Hardesty

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Through a generous donation by Backcountry.com to our partners the Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center we will continue forecasting for the next couple weeks. It will be a combination of early morning weekend forecasts and mid week afternoon updates, with weekend only updates for the Logan and Uintas area mountains. Thank You!!


BOTTOM LINE

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


Danger Rose Tutorial

The height of today’s danger is now (6am). My now-cast has Pockets of CONSIDERABLE danger in the upper elevation wind loaded terrain this morning. The sensitive drifts will be more prominent on steeper slopes with an easterly component. As the winds die down, the danger will drop to MODERATE for lingering wind slabs and longer running loose snow avalanches.

As always in the spring, any periods of prolonged sun and warming will increase the danger of wet activity on the steepest sun-exposed terrain.


CURRENT CONDITIONS

I was skinning up past a guy on the skin track yesterday. He grinned, “It’s as good as it gets.” I responded, “Yeah, we say that here most days.” Today will be no different. Squeezing another 4” of 6-8% out of the departing storm, storm totals since Thursday afternoon are 30” and 40” in Big and Little Cottonwood respectively, and 18-22” in Provo, Park City and the Ogden area mountains. In the wake of the storm, temps dropped to the mid teens at the upper elevations and the low 20s down low. Ridgetop winds are moving snow – they’ve picked up to 40mph from the west/northwest with gusts into the mid-50s. Out of the wind affected terrain, riding conditions will again be 4 Stars on all aspects. Be a good day for a crack of noon start.


RECENT ACTIVITY

Loose snow and shallow soft slab (<6” deep) avalanches highlighted the activity from early yesterday. Some of the sluffs ran a few hundred feet, but these were all easily avoided and mitigated via good terrain management. Stability increased rapidly throughout the day. Wet activity was reported at the lower elevations.


THREAT #1

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 6 hours.

The stronger ridgetop winds are easily transporting the 6-8% powder into the lee of the upper elevation ridgelines, around sub-ridges, and the deceleration zones. Test slopes and cornice drops will give good indication of the localized stability; similarly, shooting cracks are immediate indicators of concern. These drifts are often smooth and rounded and they’ll offer some resistance when you’re going from cold smoke to drifted terrain. They’ll settle out within a few hours of diminishing wind.


THREAT #2

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 10 hours.

Longer running sluffs are likely with provocation in the steepest terrain. These will run with cornice drops or slope cuts, following the fall-line and topography below. There’s no secret here with these “avalanche threats” – use smart terrain management such as putting one person on the slope at a time. They break at your feet or ride and will be easily mitigated and managed by the experienced user.


THREAT #3

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
No probability identified.
No size identified.
      Over the next 24 hours.

Recall that the overall danger, simply put, is a combination of the likelihood of triggering, the expected size of the avalanche, and the overall spatial distribution of the hazard. Things like “pucker factor” (how willing am I to enter into or cross beneath steep slopes) and “manageability” (hard slabs, deep slabs, tricky persistent layers) play a huge role. Trend is important as well.

Pucker Factor is Low, Manageability is High, and Trend is toward Increasing Stability. If you’re unsure or inexperienced, you can find excellent riding conditions in the mid-elevation gladed terrain on 30 degree slopes of any aspect.


MOUNTAIN WEATHER

With the blockbuster rolling off to the east, we’ll have overcast to mostly cloudy skies. Winds – while moderate to strong now from the west to northwest – will diminish within a few hours. Temps will be in the mid to upper teens at 9700’, the mid 20s at 8000’. Weak ridging builds in for tomorrow and we’ll have partly cloudy skies and temps rising to the upper 20s at 9700’. A couple weak systems are on tap for Tuesday and again Wednesday night.


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)

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.