| Please join us at the 23rd annual Black Diamond Fall Fundraiser Party Thursday Sept 15. Tickets are on sale now here, at the Black Diamond store & at REI. Special bonus raffle for online ticket purchasers! |  |
| Advisory: Salt Lake Area Mountains | Issued by Greg Gagne for Saturday - April 23, 2016 - 5:53am |
|---|
|
bottom line
|
 |
special announcement We will continue to issue intermittent advisories through the remainder of the month as conditions warrant. We will continue to post observations as they are especially important to the backcountry community this time of year. We may also update conditions via social media or issue Warnings if needed through the national weather service. If you see anything you feel we should know about, please submit an observation. |
 |
current conditions As of 6 am Saturday the cold front associated with a vigorous, spring storm system is crossing the Wasatch mountains. Overnight temperatures were quite warm with many stations above 40 F, but temperatures began to work their way downwards at about 5 am and are now in the 30's F and continue to drop. Winds are out of the S/SW with gusts in the 30's and 40's mph. It has been several days since most mountain stations reported below freezing temperatures. |
 |
recent activity No activity reported, but there have no reports submitted from the backcountry over the past several days, and limited reporting from the few resorts that remain open. We will continue to post observations - you can find the latest observations here. |
| type | aspect/elevation | characteristics |
|---|
|
|
LIKELIHOOD
 LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
 LARGE
SMALL
TREND
 INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
|
|
description
In no particular order of importance, the primary avalanche concerns over Saturday and Sunday are: Storm Snow - With a period of heavy precipitation expected during the morning and midday hours on Saturday, storm snow may become sensitive. However, any sensitivities should quickly settle out. Wind Drifts - Winds are forecasted to remain moderate to strong throughout the day, and sensitive wind drifts may form at both the mid and upper elevations on a variety of aspects. Wet Slabs - This past week has seen warm daytime temperatures and no overnight refreezes, leaving a warm and wet snowpack behind. Even with the arrival of colder temperatures today, the snowpack will be slow to cool down, and storm snow will insulate the snowpack and limit cooling. Of the current avalanche problems, wet slabs are the trickiest to forecast, but deep wet slabs are possible, and suspect terrain would be steep upper elevation northerly aspects, especially where the snowpack is thinner and unconsolidated. Loose Wet Slides - Once the sun comes out - or temperatures warm - any storm snow will quickly become active on all aspects, and loose, wet snow avalanches are likely. |
 |
weather A Spring storm is working its way into the Wasatch mountains, and for Saturday we can expect temperatures to continue to drop behind the cold front, lowering into the 20's F through the day. Winds are expected to remain in the moderate to strong category through much of the day, shifting from the southwest to northwest. With any luck, upper elevations may see 8-10" of snow by Saturday evening. May be a fine day for a dusk patrol. High pressure briefly builds in for Sunday with a series of storms expected for this coming week. |
general announcements
|
