Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Provo Area Mountains Issued by Trent Meisenheimer for Sunday - March 19, 2017 - 6:33am
bottom line

START and FINISH EARLY TODAY – consider BEING OUT OF THE BACKCOUNTRY BEFORE NOON. The avalanche danger will rapidly rise to MODERATE this morning - wet loose sluffs are possible on steep slopes of almost all aspects and elevations. Once the snow becomes wet, sloppy or unsupportable where you are, head for low angle terrain and avoid travel beneath steep slopes. In isolated places, natural avalanches are possible today.

Avoid travel below the huge sagging cornices and opening glide cracks
special announcement

Spring Special: We have a few donated Snowbird, Snowbasin, Solitude, and Brighton discount lift tickets left and have just lowered the price. Ski a day and benefit the Utah Avalanche Center! Order here.

Little things can make a big difference if caught in an avalanche. Read all three installments from guest blogger Tom Diegel. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
current conditions

Yesterday, Salt Lake City was 1°F short of breaking the record for the warmest day ever recorded in March, dating back to 1875. This morning under mostly clear skies, overnight temperatures are still above freezing. Many higher elevation weather stations are in the upper 30's °F , while lower elevations are in the 40's °F. Winds out of the west-south-west picked up overnight and are currently blowing 15-25 mph with gusts into the 30's and 40's.

"At the upper elevations, winds may keep the snow frozen longer and surfaces hard and icy. Depending on your timing and terrain, ice axes, crampons, whippets and/or ski crampons could prevent a “slide for life”. Lower elevations will have a shorter window for supportable snow."

  • Be sure to catch Greg Gagne’s weekly review - Find it here HERE.
recent activity

The usual round of wet activity was reported from backcountry observers yesterday as the day heated up. One significant slide was caught on video from rock climbers on the sunny side of Little Cottonwood. The slide came down a north facing avalanche path down by Perla's Ridge, timing unknown.

A post shared by Nathan Smith (@pullphoto) on

Avalanche Problem 1
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 14 hours
description

Another round of record breaking heat today for the mountains of northern Utah, with temperatures forecasted to reach 60°F at 9000' feet. The shallow refreeze of the snowpack will be short lived once again. However, I do think winds out of the southwest are helping to cool the snow surface at upper elevations and you could see those surfaces staying frozen for longer.

Wet loose sluffs can be triggered today on all aspects and elevations except the highest, northerly facing slopes. Keep an eye on the snow surface, when it becomes damp, punchy, and unsupportable - it's time to leave or change the aspect to colder snow. Avoid being under large slopes during the heat of the day. Natural avalanches may be possible today.

Avalanche Problem 2
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 14 hours
description

"Enormous cornices still dot the ridge lines, drooping in the heat. Avoidance is the key - stay way back from the edges of the cornices (they always break back further than expected) and minimize any time spent beneath."
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

"Glide cracks are opening through out the range, and occur primarily where there are smooth rock slabs beneath the snow. Common locations include Broads Fork, Stairs Gulch and Mill B South in Big Cottonwood Canyon, and Raymond Slabs."

Drew Hardesty & crew have a great observation of what these look like found HERE.

weather

Warm and windy today - the sky will be a battle of thin opaque clouds vs. sunny skies. Temperatures will rocket into the mid 60s °F at 8,000’ feet and remain in the low 40s °F at 10,000’ feet. Winds will remain out of the west-south-west and be breezy at times, speeds of 10-20 mph with gusts into the 30's and 40's are expected. GOOD NEWS, temperatures are on a downward track through the week leading to a more unsettled and cooler, wetter pattern by midweek.

National Weather Service - ensemble of operational models for 700mb (10,000') temperatures. Notice the downward trend...

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 occur.