We hope you can join us for the 4th annual Utah Snow and Avalanche Workshop at the Depot from 1 to 5 pm on Saturday, November 5.

Modeled after the International Snow Science Workshop, this event brings together avalanche professionals, experienced backcountry and sidecountry skiers and snowboarders, sledders, and those new to the game to take a closer look at the underbelly of the avalanche dragon. Join us to geek out on snow science, explore how we make high-risk decisions, and recreate and learn from some serious accidents from last year. This is great way to learn from the best our community has to offer and to hang out with a bunch of like-minded folks.

Admission is $25 for tickets purchased in advance online and $30 at the door if there are any seats left. Details, agenda, and ticket purchase info at http://utahavalanchecenter.org/usaw11-5-2011

A LOW danger today will likely rise to MODERATE tomorrow if we receive a foot of snow and wind. Shallow human triggered slides will be possible, particularly on steep, wind drifted upper elevation slopes. In the meantime, get your gear together, practice with your beacon, probe, and shovel techniques, and get your head in the game. Traumatic injury may be more likely than burial at this time of year - consider how to deal with the unexpected.

Warm and windy. Ahead of the first in a series of cold Pacific storms, mountain temps are spiking to near 30 at 10,000'. Hard to ignore the southerly winds - they're blowing 40-50mph with gusts into the 60s and 70s. It's often the price you pay here in the Wasatch - the cold front is due later this evening. Snow coverage is limited to roughly 9000' and higher, predominantly on the northwest through northeast facing slopes. The snow slopes are threadbare at best, though a couple die-hards linked some turns up high a couple days ago. All that remains from the October 6th and November 1st storms are a smattering of melt freeze and wind crusts, though much of what's left has deteorated into weak, sugary faceted snow.

Check in on other "current conditions" that have been submitted over the past couple days. Click on Current Conditions in the upper lefthand corner under our UAC logo.

See above. The "weak, sugary faceted snow" has become weak enough to produce minor sluffs in some of the steepest terrain.

The first in a series of Pacific storms arrives around dinner time. The storm splits, sending the bulk of the energy and precipitation south of us - southern Utah, the La Sals, and the western Uintas may benefit from this storm track. The northern component should have enough going for it to produce 6-10" in the central Wasatch through midday Saturday. There is some Lake Effect potential, however, with this cold weather system - and this wild card may up the snow totals another 30-40%. In the mean time, look for 10,000' temps to drop to 10 degrees F by Saturday with westerly winds at 10-15mph.

The second storm also appears to split dramatically, though we may stand to pick up another few inches Sunday night into Monday. High pressure builds back in for the rest of the week, with perhaps another storm on the horizon for Friday into Saturday.

Evelyn will update this tomorrow morning. We'll be issuing intermittent updates as conditions warrant.

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.