Advisory: Salt Lake Area Mountains | utahavalanchecenter.org

Avalanche Advisory

Advisory: Salt Lake Area Mountains	Issued by Bruce Tremper for Friday - March 21, 2014 - 5:51am

bottom line

Most of the backcountry has a LOW avalanche danger. Low danger never means no danger. Today you could find: 1) lingering, shallow, wind slabs in upper elevation terrain, 2) shallow wet sluffs in steep terrain with daytime heating, 3) sensitive cornices along ridges.

special announcement

SALE! on all remaining discount lift tickets donated to the Utah Avalanche Center from Beaver Mountain, Wolf Mountain, Sundance, and Brian Head: The few remaining tickets are being blown out with all proceeds used to pay for avalanche advisories and education. Go here to get your tickets.

current conditions

A weak cold front came through last night so temperatures are slightly colder this morning than yesterday morning. It's in the lower to mid 20's at 9,500' with a 10-15 mph wind from the west. Skies are clear with some scattered higher clouds south of the Wasatch into central Utah.

There's still some nice, dense, settled powder on the northerly, wind-sheltered slopes that rides fast. Lots of sun crusts on all the sun exposed terrain and all the upper elevation above-tree-line terrain got blasted by the strong wind from the last storm so it's alternating sastrugi and dense wind deposits.

Wind erosion and deposition from the last storm on Lake Peak in upper White Pine drainage. Notice the difference in snow surface texture. The sand blasted snow surface is wind eroded snow (usually safe) and the smooth, rounded snow is wind deposited snow (usually suspect if it was deposited recently).

recent activity

No significant activity reported from yesterday in the backcountry or at the resorts with the exception of some very small, lingering wind slabs and some minor wet, loose activity.

Avalanche Problem 1

type	aspect/elevation	characteristics
		LIKELIHOOD LIKELY UNLIKELY SIZE LARGE SMALL TREND INCREASING DANGER SAME DECREASING DANGER over the next 24 hours
description It's mostly low danger on all slopes today with some of the normal cautions including: Wind slabs: You may find a few lingering, mostly-shallow, wind slabs in the upper elevation, wind-blasted terrain. Most of these are fairly well settled but some moderate wind yesterday continued to build some minor, shallow slabs. Wet sluffs: As is always the case in spring, with daytime heating by the strong spring sun, we will see the usual round of pinwheels on steep slopes, especially under rocks that absorb more heat, plus we may see some shallow, loose snow sluffs on steep terrain in the heat of the afternoon. We still have cool weather today, moderate wind and we expect a few high clouds in the afternoon, which should all help to keep wet activity in check. Cornices: With the wind from the last storm, many of the cornices are overhanging and some are sensitive. As usual, never approach a drop off in the mountains without first checking it out from another angle. Storm snow: With graupel at the base of the last snow storm from several days ago, some of the storm snow is still a bit slabby in places. Most of it is settled and bonded but graupel takes a little longer to stabilize than normal storm snow.

type

aspect/elevation

characteristics

LIKELIHOOD

LIKELY

UNLIKELY

SIZE

LARGE

SMALL

TREND

INCREASING DANGER

SAME

DECREASING DANGER

over the next 24 hours

description

It's mostly low danger on all slopes today with some of the normal cautions including:

Wind slabs: You may find a few lingering, mostly-shallow, wind slabs in the upper elevation, wind-blasted terrain. Most of these are fairly well settled but some moderate wind yesterday continued to build some minor, shallow slabs.
Wet sluffs: As is always the case in spring, with daytime heating by the strong spring sun, we will see the usual round of pinwheels on steep slopes, especially under rocks that absorb more heat, plus we may see some shallow, loose snow sluffs on steep terrain in the heat of the afternoon. We still have cool weather today, moderate wind and we expect a few high clouds in the afternoon, which should all help to keep wet activity in check.
Cornices: With the wind from the last storm, many of the cornices are overhanging and some are sensitive. As usual, never approach a drop off in the mountains without first checking it out from another angle.
Storm snow: With graupel at the base of the last snow storm from several days ago, some of the storm snow is still a bit slabby in places. Most of it is settled and bonded but graupel takes a little longer to stabilize than normal storm snow.

weather

We have a few clouds across central Utah today and some of those may come far enough north to give the Wasatch Range some scattered, high clouds this afternoon. This is part of a weak system that will give us perhaps a few snowflakes tonight into Saturday morning with clearing again by Saturday afternoon. Ridge top winds should remain light 10 mph from the west and southwest and about twice that on the highest peaks. Temperatures should be similar to yesterday but slightly cooler with 20 degrees on the high peaks and rising to the upper 30's down at 8,000'.

The extended forecast calls for nice weather through most of the week with another relatively weak storm for around Thursday.

general announcements

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 snow and avalanche conditions. You can also call us at 801-524-5304 or 800-662-4140, email by clicking HERE, or include #utavy in your tweet or Instagram.

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), Canyons Resort Dispatch (435-615-3322)

Snowbasin Resort Dispatch (801-620-1017), Powder Mountain Dispatch (801-745-3772 x 123).

Sundance Dispatch (801-223-4150)

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To those skinning uphill at resorts: it is your responsibility to know the resort policy on uphill travel. Some allow uphill travel and have guidelines, some don't. Contact the Ski Patrol at each resort for details. IMPORTANT: Before skinning at a resort under new snow conditions, check in with Ski Patrol. Resorts can restrict or cut off access if incompatible with control and grooming operations.

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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 exist.

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