Salt Lake Avalanche Advisory

Forecaster: Bruce Tremper

BOTTOM LINE

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


Danger Rose Tutorial

The avalanche danger is mostly LOW today with pockets of MODERATE danger on any steep slope with recent deposits of wind drifted snow. If the winds unexpectedly blow harder this afternoon, the danger will be higher.


CURRENT CONDITIONS

Yesterday was one of those days you were glad to be alive and in the mountains with 10 inches to a foot of light powder on a solid base and sunshine. The backcountry seemed to be filled with cagy, old, hard-cores I have known for many years, who knew a good thing when they saw it. The old snow surface froze quite well, but you were still punching through on foot at lower elevations. The sun exposed slopes got a little manky in the afternoon but the north facing slopes remained quite nice. The pre-existing snow was quite wet and warm, so any heat or moisture the new snow received was from the bottom. This morning, temperatures remain cold, 7-10 degrees on the ridge tops and the winds are reasonable at 10 mph, gusting to 20 from the west.


RECENT ACTIVITY

Yesterday, people could trigger very soft slabs and sluffs within the new snow along the ridges where the wind was blowing, but they were very soft and manageable. (See our Photos Page.) One person took a short ride in a relatively small, soft slab in Butler Fork of Big Cottonwood Canyon. The slabs seemed to settle out quickly during the day as the warm, wet, pre-existing snow added heat to the new snow.


THREAT #1

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

Today, you may still be able to find some of these shallow, soft slabs, mostly along the upper elevation ridges. Keep an eye on the winds today. I’m expecting them to come up a bit in the afternoon as the weak front passes, but they should remain reasonable. If they blow hard, expect much more widespread wind slabs to develop today.


THREAT #2

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

I don’t think we will see much sun today, but if we do, there may be some damp sluffs on steep slopes facing the south half of the compass.


MOUNTAIN WEATHER

We have a storm today that is mostly heading into central Utah, which may give them up to a foot of new snow, but for northern Utah, it looks like just light snow showers with perhaps 4 inches accumulation today as it passes. Ridge top winds may pick up a little as the weak, cold front passes later today. They should blow 20 mph with higher gusts from the southwest, switching to the north by tonight. Ridge top temperature will remain cold, in the teens, possibly rising to 20’s in the heat of the day, then drop back down to around 10 degrees overnight. Extended forecast: Looks like another chance for snow on Monday. Then high pressure building in for a few more days.


GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

If they can get out, Wasatch Powderbird Guides will be in Mineral, Cardiff, Days, Silver, Grizzly, White Pine, American Fork and Cascade. Please consult their operations planning page.

Beacon training parks are up and running! There is one at Snowbasin, one on the Park City side at the top of Canyon’s gondola toward the Tombstone lift, one in Little Cottonwood near the Snowbird parking structure on the bypass road, and in Big Cottonwood a training park is at the west end of Solitude's lower parking lot.

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For a text only version, the link is on the left side bar, near the top.

UDOT highway avalanche control work info can be found by calling (801) 975-4838. Our statewide toll free line is 1-888-999-4019 (early morning, option 8).

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Your snow and avalanche observations can save someone’s life. Please let us know what you're seeing by leaving a message at (801) 524-5304 or 1-800-662-4140, or email us at uac@utahavalanchecenter.org. (Fax 801-524-6301).

The information in this advisory is from the U.S. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.

Evelyn Lees will update this advisory by 7:30 tomorrow morning.


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.