Salt Lake Avalanche Advisory

Forecaster: Brett Kobernik

BOTTOM LINE

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


Danger Rose Tutorial

There is a CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger. This means human triggered avalanches are likely. This is most pronounced on west through north through east facing slopes of 30 degrees or steeper. Don't disregard southeast and southwest as well. For experts, continue to dig diligently checking for weakness and use ski cuts. For the less experienced, avoiding slopes approaching 30 degrees is the best mitigation.

CURRENT CONDITIONS

It's cold this morning with temperatures into the single digits to around 10 degrees in the mountains. Winds are almost nonexistent from a southerly direction. A few inches of snow fell during the day on Saturday.

RECENT ACTIVITY

At least 15 human triggered avalanches were reported from the backcountry on Saturday with one person getting caught and carried without injuries in the Snowbasin sidecountry. Most of these slides were 12 to 18 inches deep, 40 to 120 feet wide with the longest running over 1000 feet vertical. Aspects varied from west through north through east. I've listed about 10 of the more significant avalanches under Current Conditions in the above menu.

THREAT #1
WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

A persistent weak layer buried 12 to 18 inches deep will continue to be sensitive to people today and I have no doubt we will hear of human triggered avalanches. This revolves around buried surface hoar and buried near surface facets. The near surface facets will most likely settle after a period of time but you need to give them respect still today.

The surface hoar is a different story. I claim to be no expert in dealing with buried surface hoar as it's usually not all that much of a problem around here. I'll pass on a few thoughts though. In regions where it's more common it can produce avalanches over a long period of time and it catches many experts and professionals. It releases on lower angled slopes. It can be patchy in nature making it easy to miss in snowpit evaluations. Currently, it is most prevalent in our low to mid elevations. When I've seen it buried in the Wasatch it has produced avalanches over a long period of time and some of my closest calls have involved it.

THREAT #2
WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

Yesterday's new snow was quite light density and I noted it was a bit slippery underfoot. It would sluff when disturbed. I could see additional new snow today sluffing quite easily as well or producing shallow soft slabs with this underlying surface. Continue to disturb the snow on test slopes to get a feel of what it's doing.

THREAT #3
WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

The deep slab concern is becoming less over time but you still won't catch me in my favorite steep terrain in those thin snowpack areas. Depth hoar can't be trusted and keep in mind that if you do trigger one of these it likely won't be manageable.

MOUNTAIN WEATHER

We're on the northern border of a storm that's going to produce more snow in the Central Mountains of Utah. We still could see up to 6 inches of snow during the day today. Winds will remain light from the southwest switching more west later. Temperatures will be chilly only in the teens along the ridges. We should see some clearing with continued cold temperatures Monday which may be another period ripe for near surface faceting. Some sort of a storm may affect us mid week.

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Please contact Alta Central (801-742-2033) if you trigger a large avalanche in the backcountry, especially if you are adjacent to a ski area, to alert them to the slide and whether anyone is missing or not. Rescue teams can be exposed to significant hazard when responding to avalanches, and do not want to do so when unneeded. Thanks.

Discount Lift tickets: Ski Utah, Backcountry.com, Alta, Deer Valley, Park City, The Canyons, Wolf Mountain, Snowbasin, Beaver Mountain, Brighton, Sundance, and Solitude have donated a limited number of tickets for sale at discounted prices.

Wasatch Powderbird Guides flight plan.

Dawn Patrol Forecast Hotline, updated by 05:30:888-999-4019 option 8.

Daily observations are frequently posted by 10 pm each evening.

Free UAC iPhone app from Canyon Sports.

Subscribe to the daily avalanche advisory e-mail click HERE.

UDOT canyon closures UDOT at (801) 975-4838

We appreciate all your avalanche and snow observations. You can also call us at 801-524-5304 or 800-662-4140, or email to uac@utahavalanchecenter.org

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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.

Drew will update this forecast tomorrow morning. 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.