HEAVY SNOW AND STRONG WINDS HAVE CREATED DANGEROUS AVALANCHE CONDITIONS IN THE BACKCOUNTRY WHICH WILL PERSIST THROUGH TODAY. HUMAN TRIGGERED AVALANCHES CONTINUE TO BE LIKELY TODAY ON TERRAIN STEEPER THAN 30 DEGREES ABOVE 9000 FEET. PEOPLE SHOULD AVOID BEING ON OR BELOW ANY STEEP SNOW COVERED SLOPES IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS.

TODAY IS ACCIDENT WEATHER!!! Skies are clear. The winds are finally subsiding. It's still a little gusty but nothing like it was. We're seeing moderate speeds from the northwest. Temperatures have plummeted into the single digits along the higher terrain. Another 4 to 6 inches of snow fell in the last 24 hours with closer to 10 inches in the upper ends of the Cottonwoods. The snow was notably inverted in many places yesterday with somewhat difficult trailbreaking in those areas. Settlement overnight should make things more user friendly today.

A number of avalanches were triggered yesterday, some of them quite large. Most notable was the entire West Willow Ridgeline just east of Bear Trap Fork. (Left Photo: Morris) This is one of the usual suspects. It was remotely triggered from a skier along the ridge. Another large avalanche was triggered from a ridgeline by skiers on Murdock Peak which is on the north end of the Park City ridgeline. (Right Photo: Daugherty)

A snowmobiler also triggered an avalanche that pushed the tunnel of his sled around a bit after they had crossed the slope. This is typical unpredictable behavior of persistent slabs. Video: Banks

Sled triggered slab from Brett Kobernik on Vimeo.

We'll have a beautiful day with moderate speed northwest winds and ridgetop temperatures in the upper teens to low 20s. Skies will be mostly clear. Temperatures warm significantly on Wednesday then a very nice cold storm scheduled for Christmas day should produce around a foot of classic Wasatch powder.

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, 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)

EMAIL ADVISORY  If you would like to get the daily advisory by email you will need to subscribe here.​ 

DAWN PATROL Hotline updated daily by 5-530am - 888-999-4019 option 8.

Twitter Updates for your mobile phone - DETAILS

UDOT canyon closures:  LINK TO UDOT

Utah Avalanche Center mobile app - Get your advisory on your iPhone along with great navigation and rescue tools.

Wasatch Powderbird Guides Blog/Itinerary for the Day.  

Lost or Found something in the backcountry? - http://nolofo.com/

Ski Utah mobile snow updates

Discount lift tickets are now available at Backcountry.com with more resorts to come soon.  Thanks to Ski Utah and the Utah Resorts.  All proceeds go towards paying for Utah Avalanche Center avalanche and mountain weather advisories.

To those skinning uphill at resorts:  it is your responsibility to know the resort policy on uphill travel.  You can see the uphill travel policy for each resort here. IMPORTANT: Before skinning or hiking 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.

Benefit the Utah Avalanche Center when you shop from Backcountry.com or REI:  Click this link for Backcountry.com or this link to REI, shop, and they will donate a percent of your purchase price to the UAC.  Both offer free shipping (with some conditions) so this costs you nothing!

Benefit the Utah Avalanche Center when you buy or sell on ebay - set the Utah Avalanche Center as a favorite non-profit in your ebay account here and click on ebay gives when you buy or sell.  You can choose to have your seller fees donated to the UAC, which doesn't cost you a penny.

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.