Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Salt Lake Area Mountains Issued by Evelyn Lees for Tuesday - March 24, 2015 - 6:51am
bottom line

The avalanche danger is MODERATE for triggering wind slabs and cornices on steep, upper elevation, wind drifted slopes. This danger will increase this afternoon through early evening as both winds and snow intensify around frontal passage. If the clouds are slow to arrive this morning, there could be a brief period when wet snow sluffs could be triggered. I will update this forecast by 7:30 am tomorrow morning, Wednesday, March 25.




special announcement

I will update this forecast by 7:30 am tomorrow morning, Wednesday, March 25.

On Thursday, March 26, Annelise Loevlie will be the final speaker in the Snowbird Speaker Series, sharing tales of adventures in far away lands balanced with the pressures of running a company and building a brand with meaning, all held together with a bilingual thread of passion - skiing. 6pm in the Wildflower Lounge, raffle to benefit the Utah Avalanche Center, 21+

current conditions

Skies are clear this morning, and temperatures refreshingly cool - in the teens and twenties. With an additional 1-2 inches of snow yesterday evening, snow totals are in the 6-7 inch range in the upper elevations of the Salt Lake and Park City mountains, and 3 to 4.5 in the Ogden and Provo area mountains. The graupel laden,10% density snow is a welcome little refresh, though you will still be hitting the old crusts on anything steep.

recent activity

Yesterday, there were numerous easily triggered soft new snow wind slabs and cornices in the upper elevations of the Salt Lake and Park City mountains, with some running fast and far on the smooth, icy crusts beneath. Just a few very small wind slabs were triggered in the Ogden area mountains.

Region Occurence Date Type/Location Published Name Author (user)
Salt Lake 03/23/2015 Observation: Cardiff Fork Published mark white markwhite Details
Salt Lake 03/23/2015 Observation: Patsy Marly Published Toddeo toddleeds Details
Salt Lake 03/23/2015 Observation: Patsy Marly Published Evelyn Evelyn Details

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

This morning, the new snow wind slabs and cornices will be more stubborn, but can still be triggered by a person on steep, upper elevation slopes. Identify and avoid wind-drifted slopes. The avalanche danger will rise again this afternoon, as soon as wind speeds increase, with the danger spiking around frontal passage, during the heaviest snowfall and highest wind speeds. Again, this will mostly be an upper elevation issue.

For experienced travelers, start with test slopes to determine the sensitivity of the new snow. Approach steep slopes from above, and use several careful slope cuts and cornice kicking (with good visibility and no one below!!) rather than diving straight in. Evaluate if there are wind drifts cross-loaded along gully walls and sub ridges that could be released when you are mid slope/run. Small graupel slabs may have formed where it pooled below cliff bands

Avalanche Problem 2
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 8 hours
description

If the clouds are slow to arrive or remain thin, there could be a brief period of heating this morning, and wet loose sluffs will be an issue. New snow is very susceptible to “sun breaks”, and people will be able to easily trigger shallow wet loose sluffs on steep slopes.

Also keep an eye on the rain/snowline today – any rain on new snow will also make it easy to trigger wet, loose sluffs on all aspects.

weather

Another cold front will drop south across northern Utah late this afternoon. Clouds should increase rapidly this morning, and light prefrontal precipitation will remain mostly north of I-80 today. The westerly winds will increase this afternoon as the front approach, with the high ridge lines averaging 30 to 40 mph, with gusts in the 50s. 3 to 6 inches of new snow are possible from the Cottonwoods north, with Provo area mountains more likely receiving 2 to 4 inches. 10,000’ temperatures will warm into the mid 20s today, then cool behind the front into the mid teens by tomorrow morning. Then the great melt down will continue, with another stretch of hot temperatures through at least the weekend.

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, 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, or on Twitter, follow @UDOTavy, @CanyonAlerts or @AltaCentral

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.  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.