Salt Lake Avalanche Advisory

Forecaster: Brett Kobernik

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Little Cottonwood Canyon is closed this morning for avalanche control work. There will possibly be 15 minute closures in Big Cottonwood Canyon later this morning or this afternoon. Stay clear of the Argenta Avalanche path all day today.

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 Level 3 (CONSIDERABLE) on slopes approaching 35 degrees or steeper. It is most pronounced above around 8000 feet. Natural avalanches are not expected today but dangerous human triggered avalanches are likely. The large amount of recent snow and water demands some time to settle before getting onto steeper slopes.

CURRENT CONDITIONS

Wow, what a storm system this has been. It seems like we’re actually seeing the tail end of it now. Overnight, another 8 inches of snow fell in Little Cottonwood containing .8 to .9 inches of water putting it into the 10 to 11% density range. Big Cottonwood picked up around 6 inches at Silver Lake with Solitude reporting 12 inches on their upper mountain. The rain/snow line is hovering around 7000 feet. Storm totals for the week are 50 to 80 inches with 5 to 9 inches of water. You can bet there’s a lot more in the upper elevations and especially in wind drifted terrain. Temperatures are mild again this morning in the mid 20s along the ridges and around freezing at the 8000 foot level. Winds are starting to shift from the southwest to the northwest and are fairly light along the ridges. Trail breaking on Wednesday was difficult no matter if you were on skis, snowshoes or a snowmobile. The snow was inverted causing submarining and I’d expect similar conditions today.

RECENT ACTIVITY

Another natural avalanche cycle occurred mid day Wednesday during moderate to heavy snowfall coupled with blustery southwest winds. There were human triggered avalanches reported from Big Cottonwood. Locations included Hidden Canyon out of Brighton and Willow Creek. Sounds like no one was caught or injured. All snow safety teams reported a very active day on Wednesday with avalanches breaking within the new snow and some breaking into older layering. Many avalanches ran quite far and produced significant debris piles. Everyone is gearing up for another busy day of avalanche control work today.

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

Give it a break out there today people. There’s nothing worse then investigating an avalanche fatality during the holidays. I can’t imagine what it would be like for Christmas to be a constant reminder of a loved one who was killed in an avalanche. Our snowpack is going to stabilize nicely but it needs a little time. The most active layer today will be within the newer snow with avalanches 10 to 20 inches deep. This is more then what I’d call manageable. Out of bounds resort skiers: Listen up. Exiting ski resort boundaries will put many of you in terrain with the biggest potential to avalanche today.

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

The astounding amount of new water weight is enough to break into deeper layers of our snowpack. Needless to say, an avalanche breaking into deep layers has the potential to be lethal.

THREAT #3
WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
No probability identified.
No size identified.
No trend identified.

You will want to avoid steep slopes especially gullies and terrain traps at the lower elevations where the snow is wet and saturated from rain. Small avalanches can pile up deep in these terrain traps.

MOUNTAIN WEATHER

We’ll see snow showers tapering off as the day goes on with a few additional inches possible. Temperatures will be quite mild and ridgetop winds should be fairly light from the northwest. We’ll have cloudy skies with VERY mild temperatures over the next couple of days that may influence the avalanche conditions. Stay tuned.

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

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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.

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.

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.