Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Salt Lake Area Mountains Issued by Evelyn Lees for Tuesday - February 21, 2017 - 6:41am
bottom line

The avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE on steep, wind drifted upper and mid elevation slopes. Natural avalanches could occur and hard wind drifts triggered by a person are likely. The wind drifts will be most widespread on mid and upper elevation northwest through north through easterly facing slopes. Cornices are growing and can break back further than expected.

At the mid and low elevations, the avalanche danger is MODERATE for triggering wind drifts or wet loose sluffs.




current conditions

Just one more warm and windy day before tonight’s cold front brings a nice shot of right-side up snow. Under mostly cloudy skies, light rain and snow is falling in the mountains. Overnight, temperatures remained in the 30s at the mid elevations, and the upper twenties at 10,000’. The southerly winds picked up later than expected yesterday afternoon, but are now averaging 25 mph with gusts to 40 mph. Across the higher ridge lines and peaks, averages may only be 35 mph, but there are tree-snapping gusts in the 60s to 80s. Upper elevation, very wind sheltered shady terrain is the best place to look for the last of the good dense powder from the weekend storm.
recent activity

Yesterday, the resorts reported a mix of sensitive soft slabs to stubborn hard slabs, reactive to ski cuts and explosives. Small natural and human triggered wet loose sluffs occurred at the mid to lower elevations. A couple more slides were reported from Sunday and are posted.

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

The winds hit their stride overnight, so expect to find hard wind drifts, both along ridge lines and down into open bowls and mid elevation terrain. These will be stubborn hard slabs, which tend to fracture above you. They are especially tricky because the stiffness and thickness of the slab can vary greatly over short distances. You may not be able to trigger a slab in a thick spot, but as you get to the edge of the slab where it thins, you may be able to trigger the whole hard slab.

Cornices are enormous this year. They continue to build day after day, and the warm weather makes them more likely to spontaneously break. Avoid travel both below and above, and stay well back from the edge – they break back much further than expected.
Avalanche Problem 2
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 12 hours
description

One more day before there’s cold air to the rescue. With overnight temperatures at or above freezing at many mid and lower elevations, once again people can trigger shallow wet loose sluffs on steep slopes of all aspects. Once moving, they may pick up more snow than you would expect as they slide down slope on the old hard crusts. Avoid terrain traps such as gullies and creek and road banks and steep rollovers on your exits.

Glide avalanches are unpredictable, but prolonged warm weather can be a contributing factor. Avoid travel below opening cracks, most common where there are smooth rock slabs beneath the snow, such as in Broads Fork, Mineral slabs and Raymond slabs.
weather

Warm and windy today ahead of a cold front, forecast to reach the mountains north of I-80 late this afternoon, and the Salt Lake and Provo area mountains between 5 and 8 pm tonight. Strong winds will persist throughout the event.

SNOW/RAIN: A few rain and snow showers today, with moderate to heavy snow tonight, as the snowline drops to the valley floor. 5 to 9” of snow overnight, and another 2 to 4” possible tomorrow for areas favored by northwest flow.

TEMPERATURES: Today: 8000’ highs near 50, 10,000’ highs near 32. Tonight: temperatures dropping into the low twenties and teens.

WIND: The south to southwesterly winds will remain strong all day and during frontal passage. Mid elevation stations will average 25 mph, with gusts to 40 mph. The high peaks could average to 50 mph at times, with gusts to 80 mph. Winds will shift to the west and decrease after midnight
general announcements

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

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

To get help in an emergency (to request a rescue) in the Wasatch, call 911. Be prepared to give your GPS coordinates or the run name. Dispatchers have a copy of the Wasatch Backcountry Ski map.

Backcountry Emergencies. It outlines your step-by-step method in the event of a winter backcountry incident.

If you trigger an avalanche in the backcountry, but no one is hurt and you do not need assistance, please notify the nearest ski area dispatch to avoid a needless response by rescue teams. Thanks.

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

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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.

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

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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