The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center will be teaching 1 evening/1 field day introductory and advanced avalanche classes this winter beginning Thursday, Dec 16th.

There is a Free Women’s Beacon Clinic tomorrow, Monday, Dec 13th, meeting at 9 am at the Albion Grill. Details are on our Education Page.

Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort and the Utah Avalanche Center (UAC) are once again partnering to offer the second annual Freeride Avalanche Summit, Dec. 16-17. The two-day clinic is targeted towards advanced and expert skiers and riders who want practical and professional instruction on avalanche awareness, safety and rescue. For more info go to Snowbird's web site.

Avalanche danger for wet sluffs and slab avalanches will rise from Level 1 (Low) to Level 2 (Moderate) on steep sunny slopes with daytime heating and direct sun. Slab avalanches off steep roofs are possible. The snow on the shady slopes at the lower and mid elevation will also become damp, and could sluff. A few pockets of Level 2 (Moderate) danger remain on steep, wind drifted upper elevation slopes, especially those facing north through east.

A few lingering clouds and snow showers are over the mountains this morning, with reports of a trace to an inch of very damp snow and rime overnight. Temperatures have been steadily marching upward, and are in the upper 20’s at 10,000’ to mid 30’s at 8,000’, which is about 10 degrees warmer than yesterday morning.

The northwesterly winds are decreasing – most stations are averaging less than15 mph, with gusts to 25. Only a few of the highest elevations are hanging onto higher speeds, with gusts to 40 mph. It should be another good morning for snowshoeing, riding and snowmobiling, with the driest snow at the upper elevations, but an early start and early finish would be wise due to the warming temperatures.

Only one avalanche was reported from the backcountry yesterday, a small pocket on a southeast facing slope, below 9,000’. Control work at the ski resorts were able to produce numerous class 1’s and 2’s on upper elevation north and northeasterly facing slopes above about 10,000’. There were also several control slides on east and southeast facing slopes, one to two feet deep, up to 200’ wide, running on the old sun crust.

The warm front will rapidly move east of the area this morning, leaving a trace to a couple of inches of snow behind. Skies should clear my midday, and temperatures continue to warm, reaching near 40 at 8,000’ and to mid 30’s at 10,000’. The northwesterly winds will decrease, into the 10 to 15 mph range, except across the highest terrain. Clear skies tonight should be enough for a surface refreeze in spite of above freezing free air temperatures at 10,000’. Increasing clouds and warm on Tuesday ahead of a Tuesday night’s cold front, which is forecast to produce modest snow amounts of 6 to 12”. Northern Utah should get a break from snow on Wednesday and Thursday.

If you trigger an avalanche in the backcountry - especially if you are adjacent to a ski area – please call the following teams 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.

Salt Lake – Alta Central (801-742-2033) Ogden – Snowbasin Patrol Dispatch (801-620-1017) Provo – Sundance Patrol Dispatch (801-223-4150) 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.

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

UDOT canyon closures UDOT at (801) 975-4838

You have the opportunity to participate in the creation of our own community avalanche advisory by submitting avalanche and snow observations. You can also call us at 801-524-5304 or 800-662-4140, or email to uac@utahavalanchecenter.org

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.

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.

We will update this forecast tomorrow morning. Thanks for calling.