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 mostly Level 1 (LOW) avalanche danger unless you are poking around the mid and upper elevation wind effected ridges where there remains a pockety Level 2 (MODERATE) danger for triggering a wind slab. The most likely spots are on slopes of 35 degrees or steeper that face north through east through south however watch any terrain feature that may be crossloaded with a pillowy looking snow feature


CURRENT CONDITIONS

We have mostly cloudy skies with temperatures in the teens and light west winds. Excellent settled powder remains out of wind and sun effected areas.


RECENT ACTIVITY

There were three minor avalanches reported from Sunday (Nalli, Diegel) with one person caught and carried with no injuries (Whillock). They were all lingering wind slabs. You might ask why there are avalanches occurring when the danger is generally LOW? The answer is that people are willing to take more risk in lower danger situations which often puts them in terrain that is most likely to avalanche. When we say pockets of MODERATE avalanche danger for lingering wind slabs, this means that the distribution of "trigger-able" slabs is scattered. MODERATE also indicates they won’t pose that much threat. Keep in mind that if you are in radical terrain there is always danger.


THREAT #1

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

If you’re poking around in areas that have had recent wind loading you may find a hard slab that will release today. They can release above you and may not necessarily release if you’re using a ski cut. Snowmobiles weigh enough to most likely dislodge these wind slabs on the first pass and they could possibly tip a sled over. Burial is unlikely with these but injury is possible.


MOUNTAIN WEATHER

We’ll see partly cloudy skies today with ridgetop temperatures in the upper teens to low 20s and light westerly winds. A very minor disturbance tonight could produce snow showers adding a trace to a couple of inches of snow.


GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

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.


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.