Salt Lake Avalanche Advisory

Forecaster: Evelyn Lees

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Check out the National Weather Service’s new Snow/Avalanche page – it’s developing into one stop shopping for current conditions, forecasts, web cams and more.

Also check out the Friends Events Calendar – there are multiple free Avalanche Awareness talks and a free Women’s Beacon clinic this week.


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 today is LOW, with a few small sluffs possible on the steeper slopes. Also, avoid any slips on the hard, slick crusts, which could result in a damaging slide into rocks.


CURRENT CONDITIONS

Under clear skies, temperatures are in the mid teens to low 20’s this morning. Yesterday’s blustery, southwesterly winds decreased into the 10 to 20 mph range, though a few of the more exposed stations are still gusting in the 30’s and 40’s.

Just keep waxing your rock skis and boards – turning and riding continues to be limited to the shallow, tracked sun and wind damaged snowpack on the upper elevation, northerly facing slopes. Tours involve the crafty avoidance of rocks, carefully engineered exits, and possibly hiking short distances.


RECENT ACTIVITY

No avalanche activity was reported from yesterday, though it was possible to get small sluffs of surface snow moving on very steep slopes.


THREAT #1

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

Strong, gusty winds up high yesterday did little more than rearrange the surface facets and scour a few more slopes down to old slick crusts. Today’s main avalanche concern is triggering shallow sluffs of facets and avoiding slips on the hard crusts. the addition of a few inches of very cold, low density snow won’t do much to change the avalanche conditions, except to slightly increase the depth of the sluffs. I expect increasingly dangerous avalanche conditions later this week if the weather forecast verifies, and we overload the fragile existing snow pack with even moderate snow amounts.


MOUNTAIN WEATHER

A cold front dropping straight out of the north has just crossed the Idaho border, and should reach the Salt Lake mountains by midday. Cold temperatures will limit snow amounts and keep the densities very low, so total accumulations of only 2-6” are expected by Sunday morning, with densities around 5%. This morning’s teens and 20’s will be the highs of the day, and temperatures will then plunge into the single digits to below zero tonight. The current southwesterly winds will shift to the northwest by this afternoon and remain light, in the 5 to 15 mph range, with only the highest peaks gusting into the 40’s. The next snow event, Sunday night through Tuesday, will favor the central and southern Utah mountains with the heavy snowfall, though the northern Utah mountains could eventually accumulate significant amounts.


GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Our web site is now formatted for iPhone. You can also download a free iPhone application from Canyon Sports to display the Bottom Line. Search for Utah Avalanche on the Apple's iPhone Apps page or in iTunes.

If you want to get this avalanche advisory e-mailed to you daily click HERE.

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).

Donate to your favorite non-profit – The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center. The UAC depends on contributions from users like you to support our work. To find out more about how you can support our efforts to continue providing the avalanche forecasting and education that you expect please visitour Friends page.

We appreciate avalanche and snow observations. If there’s something we should know about give us a call 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.

Brett Kobernik will update this forecast Sunday morning. And thanks for calling.


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.