An avalanche warning is in effect for the mountains of northern and central Utah. Very strong winds at all elevations combined with dense snow created a HIGH avalanche danger on many slopes. Avalanches may occur in unusual areas. Especially avoid any steep slope with recent wind deposits.

There is a HIGH avalanche danger today on many slopes. Avalanches will occur in unusual places. Choose very conservative terrain today. Stay off of and out from underneath any slope steeper than 30 degrees.

Wow, it was a wild, little cold front. Winds nuked yesterday afternoon and overnight blowing from the west and northwest 40, gusting to 60 mph on most of the ridge tops with gusts to nearly 100 at very exposed locations. Winds blew hard at all elevations. Very dense graupel fell with the front, which added an additional inch of water weight in only about 3-4 inches of snow making the density a hefty 20 percent. But the cold front is passed and winds have died down and skies are clear. Temperatures have plummeted into the single digits along the ridge tops. Since it was so warm yesterday, expect lots of ice at elevations below about 7,500'

I'm guessing that riding conditions will be fairly poor today.

There was quite a bit of natural activity yesterday within the new snow along with some deeper releases to depth hoar with explosives in uncompacted terrain. In addition, there was one burial in the Logan area mountains with sketchy details but it sounds like they rescued themselves and they are OK. In addition there was another close call in Logan yesterday with photos in the Current Conditions section of our website.

The storm is over. We should have clear to partly cloudy skies today with winds from the northwest 10-20 mph. Temperatures will be cold, in the single digits. Friday, should be about 10 degrees warmer with continued clear to partly cloudy.

We will have another windy, cold front on Saturday afternoon into Sunday with perhaps 8 more inches of snow.

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.

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Daily observations are frequently posted by 10 pm each evening.

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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/ .

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We will update this forecast tomorrow morning. Thanks for calling.