Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Provo Area Mountains Issued by Trent Meisenheimer for Saturday - November 19, 2016 - 7:53am
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The avalanche danger is Low and for most of us, there really isn't really enough snow on which to recreate.

We will be issuing intermittent updates more frequently if the forecasted storms materialize.




special announcement

Some ski resorts have closed their mountain to uphill traffic. If you're heading to a ski area please check in with the individual ski resort and find out their uphill traffic policies. If you walk up one ski area with another adjacent to it, please respect and check in with the sister resort before riding down into their resort.

The Utah Avalanche Center will be at the Uinta Brewing Yard Sale today, Saturday 11/19. We'll have some new, unmounted Movement and Dynafit skis (donated!) for sale as well as UAC-labeled Discreet beanies and Trucker hats and stickers. Stop by and say hi. Click here to find out more info.

Between now and Jan 15th: Donate to the Utah Avalanche Center by shopping at Whole Foods Market Utah! When you visit any Utah Whole Foods Market locations, bring your re-usable bags, Whole Foods will donate a dime per bag to the Utah Avalanche Center - if you say DONATE my bag credit.
current conditions

Mountain temperatures are balmy this morning, hanging in the low to mid 30's at 9,000 ft. There is a strong temperature inversion and most trailheads temperatures are much colder than upper elevations. Roughly 1-3'' of snow is sitting on dirt at the higher elevations. The exception is high northerly terrain which holds an extra few inches of faceted snow from the previous storm. Winds have begun to increase this morning out of the southwest, with most stations from Ogden to Provo blowing 20-30 mph and gusting into the 60's across the highest peaks.

Photo looking at the northerly terrain above Bridal Vail Falls in Provo Canyon.

recent activity

No backcountry avalanche activity has been reported.

Avalanche Problem 1
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

With only 1-3" of total snow on the ground there really isn't enough snow to ride and slide on just yet. However, with a series of storms forecast next week, this will change. Right now is a great time to get your avalanche gear out. Make sure you have fresh batteries for your beacon, also be sure your shovel and probe are in good working order. It's very easy to find a pile of leaves in the backyard and run through a beacon drill or two. As the storms inevitably roll in, one must treat unopened ski area terrain as having a backcountry snowpack.

Additionally, we are keeping our eye on the snow from the previous storm on the high northerly aspects as we suspect these slopes may be a problem if forecast snow amounts add up. Check out the recent Observations HERE.

weather

Warm and windy conditions will continue today and Sunday under a strong southwest flow. Mountain temperatures will warm into the upper 30s to mid 40s today. The southwesterly winds will remain brisk, in the 25 to 30 mph range, with gusts in the 50s to even the 60s across the highest peaks. An approaching storm will increase clouds tomorrow, with snow starting by tomorrow night and continuing through Monday. The rain/snow line will start around 9000' Sunday night, dropping to 7,500' Monday morning. Storm totals of 5 to 10" at the upper elevations by Tuesday morning are possible.

Looking to the future, a progressive pattern may be setting up, with a quick hitting storm possible Thursday, and perhaps another Friday into Saturday.
general announcements

Remember your information can save lives. If you see anything we should know about, please help us out by submitting snow and avalanche conditions. You can also call us at 801-524-5304, email by clicking HERE, or include #utavy in your tweet or Instagram.

To get help in an emergency (to request a rescue) in the Wasatch, call 911. Be prepared to give your GPS coordinates or the run name. Dispatchers have a copy of the Wasatch Backcountry Ski map.

Backcountry Emergencies. It outlines your step-by-step method in the event of a winter backcountry incident.

If you trigger an avalanche in the backcountry, but no one is hurt and you do not need assistance, please notify the nearest ski area dispatch to avoid a needless response by rescue teams. Thanks.

EMAIL ADVISORY If you would like to get the daily advisory by email you will need to subscribe here.​

DAWN PATROL Hotline updated daily by 5-530am - 888-999-4019 option 8.

TWITTER Updates for your mobile phone - DETAILS

UDOT canyon closures: LINK TO UDOT, or on Twitter, follow @UDOTavy, @CanyonAlerts or @AltaCentral

Utah Avalanche Center mobile app - Get your advisory on your iPhone along with great navigation and rescue tools.

Powderbird Helicopter Skiing - Blog/itinerary for the day

Lost or Found something in the backcountry? - http://nolofo.com/

Ski Utah mobile snow updates

To those skinning uphill at resorts: it is critical to know the resort policy on uphill travel. You can see the uphill travel policy for each resort here.

Benefit the Utah Avalanche Center when you shop from Backcountry.com or REI: Click this link for Backcountry.com or this link to REI, shop, and they will donate a percent of your purchase price to the UAC. Both offer free shipping (with some conditions) so this costs you nothing!

Benefit the Utah Avalanche Center when you buy or sell on ebay - set the Utah Avalanche Center as a favorite non-profit in your ebay account here and click on ebay gives when you buy or sell. You can choose to have your seller fees donated to the UAC, which doesn't cost you a penny.

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 exist.