Provo Avalanche Advisory

Forecaster: Bruce Tremper

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

We are doing intermittent avalanche advisories, and this forecast will cover April 26-29. Avalanche advisories will end for the season after the weekend.

Alta Ski Area will be closed to uphill traffic for the next couple weeks. However, you can still go up the summer road towards Catherine's Pass.


BOTTOM LINE

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


Danger Rose Tutorial

Watch for wet avalanche activity as the sun heats up the slopes and there is also the possibility of large, deep, wet slabs in upper elevation, northerly-facing terrain. As usual, you should get out early and get home early and still avoid the upper elevation northerly facing slopes.


CURRENT CONDITIONS

Temperatures have thankfully cooled down from the sweltering, hot weather earlier in the week. 6 inches of dense graupel fell at upper elevations and the wind has redistributed much of the snow but snow surface conditions remain creamy and nice.


RECENT ACTIVITY

Although the surface snow seems to be staying in place fairly well, shockingly, explosive control in Little Cottonwood Canyon today continued to trigger large, deep, wet slab avalanches on wet faceted snow near the ground. The largest was 4' deep by 150' wide. This goes to show that the deep slabs can still be active even though the surface snow is frozen. Yikes.


THREAT #1

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
No trend identified.

With the explosive-triggered, deep, wet slabs triggered today in Little Cottonwood Canyon, it goes to show that the deep, wet slab avalanches have not completely subsided in the much colder weather even though the surface of the snow is frozen solid. Amazing. This faceted snow continues to astound and surprise us to the bitter end. We've been preaching all season that this unstable snowpack was just never going to completely go away until all the snow melted and we did not realize how right we would be. These avalanches will be difficult to trigger but if you do they will be large and probably unsurvivable.

As the sun comes out over the weekend, there will likely be some surface wet sluffs within the new snow with daytime heating on the steep sun exposed slopes.


MOUNTAIN WEATHER

Skies should be partly cloudy and temperatures warming up to the mid 30's on Saturday and the mid 40's on Sunday. We should get good refreezes each night.


GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

If you're getting out and see anything I should know about, please let me know. You can leave a message on our answering machine at 800-662-4140 or fill out the observation form on our home page at www.UtahAvalancheCenter.org.

I will post any observations posted from our home page.

This will likely be the last avalanche advisor of the season.


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.