Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Salt Lake Area Mountains Issued by Mark Staples for Saturday - April 8, 2017 - 5:08am
bottom line

Generally safe avalanche conditions exist and the danger is LOW. Watch for loose wet snow avalanches if any significant rain falls, and watch for fresh wind slabs later today. Otherwise, get ready for great powder tomorrow if the weather forecast holds true.
special announcement

Golf to benefit the Utah Avalanche Center? We have a donated gift certificate for four guest rounds and cart fees at Jeremy Ranch. We are asking $500 for this unique experience to golf for avalanche safety. See the certificate for conditions. Contact us if you are interested.
current conditions

This morning it's warm and windy and raining hard at the airport at 5:30 a.m. The freezing line is at 10,000 ft, and temperatures are in the low to mid 40's F at most trail heads. At ridgetops winds are averaging 15-30 mph and gusting 40-60 mph from the south. Yesterday around 5 p.m. an insignificant amount of rain fell and it was mostly dry overnight except near the Idaho/Utah border. Riding conditions will be drastically different between this morning and tomorrow morning. Read more in the weather section at the bottom.

For a recap of this week's weather go HERE.
recent activity

No avalanches have been reported.
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

With warm temperatures and rain, loose wet snow avalanches can occur today. Watch for this problem in places that receive rain this morning.
Avalanche Problem 2
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

Strong winds this morning have very little snow available to transport and form wind slabs. However, some snow should fall today and allow winds to form fresh wind slabs later today. New snow and wind-blown snow will land on a variety of surfaces including:

  • Wet snow
  • Ice crusts
  • Some dry loose snow on north facing slopes above 10,000 feet

Pay attention to how the new snow is bonding (or not bonding) to these various surfaces. It should bond quickly to wet snow and more slowly to the others. Graupel may fall during frontal passage and form a temporary weak layer that limits bonding as well. Watch Greg's short video about some weak snow on high elevation north aspects.
Avalanche Problem 3
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

Cornices are huge now. Cold air arriving tonight should decrease the chances of natural cornice fall. Regardless, they are unpredictable. Avoid being under or on top of them. They can break further back you would expect. If you have to travel under them, move quickly and limit your exposure.
weather

A band of moisture is crossing the northernmost part of Utah this morning with the first cold front. This moisture should break up and not produce any significant precipitation. Strong south winds will blow 20-30 mph and gust 50-60 mph at ridgetops with 90 mph gust possible at the highest elevations. A few inches of snow should fall today. A second cold front will arrive around 5 p.m. and bring a drastic drop in temperatures, a short period of intense snowfall, possible lightning/thunder, and more strong winds. The freezing line will drop to 6000 feet followed by a moist northwest flow that produces more snow. By tomorrow morning, there should be about a foot of new snow. Because temperatures will steadily drop, the new snow will get lighter and new snow amounts could be higher.

Bottom line for weather - This storm will produce right side up snow which starts warm and dense but gets colder and lighter. Strong winds should continue through tomorrow morning blowing from the SW today and from the NW tonight. Riding conditions should be great tomorrow morning in places unaffected by the wind.
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.

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.

Powderbird Helicopter Skiing - Blog/itinerary for the day

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

Ski Utah mobile snow updates

To those skinning uphill at resorts: it is critical to know the resort policy on uphill travel. You can see the uphill travel policy for each resort here.

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 occur