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

Most terrain has a Low to Moderate avalanche danger. There are scattered areas with a Considerable avalanche danger which include the steeper northwest through northeast upper elevation terrain. Watch for freshly drifted snow which could overload the buried weak layers. Also, watch for sunny slopes to become damp and possibly unstable later today.


CURRENT CONDITIONS

Under partly cloudy skies, temperatures dipped into the low teens overnight and we have light northwest winds that have increased just slightly over the last few hours. Riding conditions remain excellent on many aspects with heat damage to the southerly aspects.


RECENT ACTIVITY

A number of shallow soft slab avalanches were triggered by people in the backcountry on Thursday. It sounds like most were heat related, occurring on sunnier slopes. The largest were 50 feet wide. These were manageable for the most part, not posing a whole lot of threat for experienced travelers. There were also a few heat initiated loose snow avalanches reported with a couple producing fairly good sized debris piles. These packed a bit more punch and could pose a threat if you’re in the wrong place.


THREAT #1

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

The biggest threat remains an avalanche breaking into old weak snow near the ground although it seems like this issue is dormant at the time being. This being said, savvy people are still quite leery of many slopes out there. Also, watch out for what the wind does today as far as adding new weight to a slope.

Here are some excellent observations detailing poor snowpack structure from some of our high end observers:1 LEES, 2 GAGNE, 3 NALLI


THREAT #2

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

The little bump in wind speeds is enough to make mention of some fresh drifts that may be forming and may be sensitive to a person. There’s plenty of loose powder to blow around and form some fresh slabs. Buried surface hoar may act as the weak layer making this issue more dangerous. The wind will blow from the northwest so pay close attention to fresh drifts on easterly aspects as well as any cross loaded terrain feature.


THREAT #3

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 8 hours.

Heat related activity should again be considered today. It probably won’t be as pronounced as on Thursday but should be expected again. Stay out from underneath steep slopes that are receiving direct sun.


MOUNTAIN WEATHER

We’ll have partly cloudy skies with temperatures up around 30 at 8000 feet and 20s along the ridges. Winds will be slightly gusty from the north and northwest in the moderate speed range. We are still anticipating a storm impacting us mainly on Sunday that should bring a nice refresher. Check our noon mountain weather forecast for more details later today.


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.

Twitter Updates for your mobile phone http://utahavalanchecenter.org/twitter)

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

Wasatch Powderbird Guides does daily updates about where they'll be operating on this blog http://powderbird.blogspot.com/ .

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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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.