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

A MODERATE (L2) danger persist for human triggered wet avalanches at the mid to low elevations of all aspects. Avoid the cornices at all costs. When the snow starts to become damp with warming and light rain, choose lower angled terrain.


CURRENT CONDITIONS

Ok, so today may not be as good as it gets. With a weak system passing through, skies are mostly cloudy to overcast and we can expect light rain and perhaps a trace to two by day's end. Winds are light from the southwest. Yesterday temperatures skyrocketed into the 40s and 50s in the Wasatch and the snow suffered for it. Early birds and the savvy who played their aspects found first rate powder snow with good stability. But it was short-lived- only one day. In the spring, the good powder snow has a half-life of minutes, not hours. Only the high direct north holds good cold snow now.

Still, it's been a blockbuster of a season - over 600" of snow and counting. And interesting for snow geeks - the surface hoar/January MLK rain crust in particular. And about half the number of avalanche involvements as last year. We've been putting the final touches on this year's Annual Report - it's still in Draft form - but can be viewed here- in the Archives section of Current Conditions.

RECENT ACTIVITY

It didn't take long for the snow to move with yesterday's direct sun and mountain highs into the 40s and 50s. Widespread sluffing of the dampened snow left decent debris piles under the steepest sun-light confined terrain. Even the lower elevation northerly aspects suffered with rollerballs, pinwheels and shallow point releases. Only the Ogden mountains reported wet slab activity in the higher cirques.

Like most things in life, timing is everything. The wet activity is predictable and manageable with smart terrain choices. We heard of no close-calls or poor decisions in the backcountry.

THREAT #1
WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

With temps dropping into the 20s and a fair amount of clear sky, the snow will have had enough time for a fair refreeze overnight. Temps only dropped into the mid-20s, and I'd expect some wet sluffing with human provocation on all aspects at the mid and low elevations with daytime warming and a light rain. Avoid being on or underneath steep slopes that funnel into terrain traps when the snow starts to become damp. If you start to see pinwheels, it's time to move on to lower angled terrain. Damp push-a-lanches may move slow, but they certainly pack a punch.

THREAT #2
WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

Remain on high alert for these monsters. Complacent ridge-walkers may end up over with the box-car as it calves off behind them. There's little reason for dropping cornices intentionally today.

THREAT #3
No problem identified.
WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
No probability identified.
No size identified.
No trend identified.


MOUNTAIN WEATHER

We'll have overcast skies and a "trace to two" with this going through the motions weather disturbance. Winds are to remain generally light to moderate from the southwest. Temps will reach into the upper 30s to low 40s. The next cold front arrives tomorrow afternoon and looks to bring another good shot of snow to the Wasatch. 6-10" is likely for areas favored by a northwest flow. An unsettled westerly flow follows for the remainder of the 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)

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.