Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Provo Area Mountains Issued by Evelyn Lees for Monday - January 15, 2018 - 7:30am
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The Avalanche Danger remains CONSIDERABLE on steep, upper elevation slopes facing northerly through easterly. Avalanches 2 to 3 feet deep can still be triggered by a person, on slope, from a distance or from below. Avoid travel on and below these slopes. Other mid and upper elevations slopes have a MODERATE Avalanche Danger.

Wet loose sluffs are possible today on all steep, sunny slopes and perhaps on shady mid and lower elevation slopes during periods of high, thin clouds.
special announcement

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.

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.
current conditions

It's a beautiful calm, clear morning in the mountains – temperatures are in the tupper wenties, with a few teens in the drainage bottoms. The northerly winds are very light, less than 10 mph, and the highest peaks to the north are only averaging 15 mph. If you are searching for powder, head to wind sheltered, low angle shady slopes. Unfortunately, the low to mid elevations are still plauged by low snow, making access and exits tedious. All the sunny slopes will be crusted this morning, damp and sloppy later in the day. Spoiler alert: warm temperatures combined with possible high, thin clouds may cause “greenhousing”, heating the snow on the northerly facing slopes today.
recent activity

An excellent observation from the Provo area mountains yesterday by Woody and Trent who went and looked at the Bunnels avalanche.
Avalanche Problem 1
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 12 hours
description

“Poor structure” and a “persistent weak layer” are the buzzwords of the Wasatch snowpack. Translated – “strong snow sitting on weak snow” and “facets”. Collapsing and avalanches are indications a person can still trigger an avalanche.

While with each day, the chance of triggering a slide on one of the faceted weak layers decreases, the consequences remain the same. A triggered slide would likely be 2 to 3 feet deep, and 50 to 100 feet wide. Slides have been releasing on northwest through easterly facing slopes at both the mid and upper elevations, and in some places breaking well off the ridge lines, meaning you can get out on to a slope, and have the slide break above you.

Observation after observation from experienced backcountry travelers echo distrust of the snowpack, and that avoidance of the steep, shady slopes the only way to guarantee not triggering an avalanche
weather

The high pressure ridge will weaken just a bit today, allowing for periods of high thin clouds. Temperatures will warm into the upper 30s to low 40s. The northeasterly winds will be in the 5 to 15 mph range, with speeds across even the highest ridgelines only in the 10 to 20 mph range. A few snow flurries are possible Tuesday night into Wednesday, with a colder, stronger storm forecast for Friday into Saturday.
general announcements

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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.