Salt Lake Avalanche Advisory

Forecaster: Brett Kobernik

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Utah Outdoor Adventure Journal and Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort present Winslow Pasey TONIGHT concluding the adventure speakers series. She has been a ski guide for 9 years & is a lead guide for Utah Mountain Adventures. She has guided all over the world, including Antarctica, Nepal, Mongolia, Alaska, & South America, is a certified yoga instructor, and a UAC Avalanche Instructor. She will inspire with stories from several recent trips to the icy continent.

An optional prize drawing w/ great donated gear will be held to benefit the Utah Avalanche Center. Must be 21+. 6pm Mar 8 at the Wildflower Lounge, Iron Blosam at Snowbird

BOTTOM LINE

Danger by aspect and elevation on slopes approaching 35° or steeper.
(click HERE for tomorrow's danger rating)


Danger Rose Tutorial

Most terrain has a MODERATE avalanche danger. Keep in mind that there are scattered places where you may still trigger a dangerous slab avalanche that breaks into persistent weak snow layers. Keep an eye on sunny slopes that become wet.

CURRENT CONDITIONS

We have clear skies and overnight temperatures were in the teens. The winds bumped up for a period from the northeast with gusts to around 20 along the 9000 foot ridges and 60 at the highest elevations. It looks as if they’re slowing a bit now. If you bust through enough sun and wind crusts, you can find patches of dense settled soft snow.

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

Triggering an avalanche that breaks into a persistent weak layer still poses the greatest threat out there today. The best I can tell, there were three layers active during the last avalanche cycle; early February facets, facets around the rime crust, and the graupel layer. I suspect these have settled out for the most part. Shallow areas are the most suspect such as slopes that have avalanched. On the north aspects I was still able to get the graupel layer to propagate clean but I had to put my boot to it to make it fracture.

THREAT #2
WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 10 hours.

Wet activity probably won’t be too much concern today but as we move into Spring we should always keep this issue in mind especially during clear warm days. Any slope that receives direct sun should be analyzed carefully. Slopes with mushy punchy conditions should be avoided.

THREAT #3
WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

You may find a few scattered areas of wind drifted snow that may crack. Avoid these in exposed terrain and this issue won’t pose any threat.

MOUNTAIN WEATHER

It’ll be a nice day in the hills with temperatures into the upper 30s at 8000 feet and around freezing on the ridgetops. Northeast winds may be a bit blustery still this morning then slow this afternoon. We’ll have sunny skies for the next few days with gradually warming temperatures and light southwest winds. There is no significant storm in sight as of right now aside from a minor disturbance early next week.

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 and Park City – Alta Central (801-742-2033)

Ogden – Snowbasin Patrol Dispatch (801-620-1017)

Provo – Sundance Patrol Dispatch (801-223-4150)

Dawn Patrol Forecast Hotline, updated by 05:30: 888-999-4019 option 8.

Twitter Updates for your mobile phone http://utahavalanchecenter.org/twitter)

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

Wasatch Powderbird Guides does daily updates about where they'll be operating on this blog http://powderbird.blogspot.com/ .

Remember your information can save lives. If you see anything we should know about, please 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.

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.