Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Provo Area Mountains Issued by Trent Meisenheimer for Wednesday - January 4, 2017 - 7:35am
bottom line

The avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE on all mid and upper elevation slopes, where wind slab, storm slab and persistent slab avalanches can be easily triggered. Expect the avalanche danger to be on the rise throughout the day, possibly reaching high danger by late this evening. Natural avalanches are possible at the upper elevations where the wind is blowing and drifting the snow. In some cases avalanches may be triggered from a distance

Anyone heading into the backcountry needs good snowpack and terrain evaluation skills and conservative decision-making. Measure your slope angles and stay off of and out from under steep slopes, especially those getting wind drifted.
avalanche watch

THE FOREST SERVICE UTAH AVALANCHE CENTER IN SALT LAKE CITY HAS ISSUED A BACKCOUNTRY AVALANCHE WATCH.

* TIMING…IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM MST THIS MORNING TO 6 AM MST THURSDAY

* AFFECTED AREA…FOR THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTHERN UTAH INCLUDING THE WASATCH RANGE...UINTA MOUNTAINS...BEAR RIVER RANGE...BEAR LAKE AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES IN SE IDAHO...

* AVALANCHE DANGER…THE AVALANCHE DANGER FOR THE WARNING AREA IS EXPECTED TO RISE DURING THE DAY.

* IMPACTS…HEAVY SNOW COMBINED WITH WIND ARE CREATING WIDESPREAD AREAS OF UNSTABLE SNOW. BOTH HUMAN TRIGGERED AND NATURAL AVALANCHES ARE LIKELY. STAY OFF OF AND OUT FROM UNDER SLOPES STEEPER THAN 30 DEGREES.

BACKCOUNTRY TRAVELERS SHOULD CONSULT WWW.UTAHAVALANCHECENTER.ORGOR CALL 1-888-999-4019 FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION.

THIS WARNING DOES NOT APPLY TO SKI AREAS WHERE AVALANCHE HAZARD REDUCTION MEASURES ARE PERFORMED.
special announcement

The Salt Lake City premier of The Fourth Phase from the creators of The Art of Flight will at Brewvies at 7 pm on Monday, Jan 9 as a fundraiser for the Utah Avalanche Center. For tickets and details, go to https://utahavalanchecenter.org/event/fourth-phase
current conditions

The first few snow flakes of the new storm are starting to fall this morning. Unfortunately, the west winds are ruining the powder party with speeds of 30-40 mph gusting to 92 mph at 11,000 feet in elevation. The 10,000' ridge lines are blowing in the 20-25 mph range gusting into the 50's. Mountain temperatures are slightly warmer this morning, with trailhead temperatures in the mid to low 20's and upper elevations temperatures are in the mid to upper teens.

Video of Craig Gordon explaining why the storm is going to increase the avalanche danger.

recent activity

Most of the avalanche activity reported yesterday was confined to the new snow. Fast moving sluffs and loose snow avalanches were reported by many backcountry parties as well as control teams. No slab avalanches were reported from the backcountry yesterday. However, I think today will be a game changer. Check out the observation page found here.

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

Wind speeds have already increased from Ogden to Provo. With plenty of light snow available for transport and upper elevation wind speeds fast enough to drift the snow, sensitive wind slabs will be found in the higher terrain. Anywhere, anytime the wind speeds increase, natural avalanches will be possible, and human triggered slides certain on wind-drifted slopes. Avoid travel on and below wind-drifted slopes. The drifts will be most widespread at the upper elevations, but evaluate mid elevation terrain carefully, too, for any signs of wind drifting. See the wind speeds below from a weather station at 10,500 feet in Little Cottonwood Canyon which is representative of increased winds in other places.
Avalanche Problem 2
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

Warm, heavy snow will change the game today. We are expecting 5-9" of dense snow with more coming tonight. Dense, heavy snow on top of light fluffy snow is a good recipe for avalanches.
Avalanche Problem 3
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

The snowpack has a variety of buried facets and crusts on mid and upper elevation slopes of all aspects, with the newest layer of facets just buried two days ago. A smaller storm snow slide might be able to trigger a deeper slide in the snowpack, especially in a shallower snowpack area. Be especially wary of slopes that have slid one or more times this year, drainages with less snow, and wind scoured areas.

Video animation of a slab avalanche.

weather

Expect 3-7" of new snow throughout the day with increasing densities. Winds will be increasing from the west today with 10,000' elevations averaging 20-30 mph gusting into the 50's. Temperatures will warm slightly and the rain snow line will hover around the foothills this morning and will drop to the valley floor this evening once the storm shifts to a more northerly flow. The strongest part of the storm will be in the overnight hours lingering into tomorrow morning. 15-20 inches of new snow by Friday is a good bet.

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.