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

Most mountainous terrain has a Level 1 (LOW) avalanche danger. There is a pockety Level 2 (MODERATE) avalanche danger for mid and upper elevation slopes approaching 40 degrees in steepness on northwest through southeast aspects. Stay out from under steep southerly facing terrain during the heat of the day, especially gullies.


CURRENT CONDITIONS

We have a few clouds rolling through and temperatures are in the teens to low 20s. Westerly winds bumped slightly over the last 12 hours but are still generally light with moderate speed gusts along the ridges. Riding conditions remain excellent at many locations. The snow surface shows that a little near surface faceting and surface hoar formation has taken place.


THREAT #1

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

Things have been very quiet in the backcountry. Our last storm produced very little in the line of avalanche activity and the snowpack has only settled more since. We did not add a significant amount of weight to re-activate any of our deeper weak layers and these probably won’t play a role unless you’re really hunting for them which could happen as people will take bigger risks during periods of lower avalanche danger ratings. If you are getting into the more steep radical terrain, you will be in places that are most likely to avalanche. While the majority of the terrain out there has very little avalanche danger right now, mid and upper elevation slopes approaching 40 degrees on the east half of the compass are the most likely spots to find an avalanche. I expect people to be crawling all over the place today so I won’t be surprised if someone finds a pocket to release.

Today will bring the warmest temperatures we’ve seen this week so far and southerly facing slopes may heat enough to cause some minor wet avalanche activity. You can easily avoid this by staying out from under steep sunny slopes in the heat of the day, especially confined terrain such as gully bottoms.


MOUNTAIN WEATHER

High pressure continues through the weekend. We’ll see scattered clouds with mild daytime temperatures up to around freezing along the ridges. Westerly winds may increase slightly for a bit today and another period of increased speeds tonight. We are looking at a weather pattern shift toward the end of next week which should bring some storms through.


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 by clicking HERE

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.