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Forecast for the Provo Area Mountains

Drew Hardesty
Issued by Drew Hardesty on
Tuesday morning, October 19, 2021
Avalanches are most common during and just after a storm.
It's currently snowing hard in the mountains: remember that avalanche conditions are heightened during periods of heavy snowfall. New snow and wind slab avalanches may be most active this morning in steep terrain.
Have a partner and the gear: beacon, shovel, probe are essential.
Remember that traumatic injury is common with any early season avalanche accidents.
We will update this as conditions warrant. Please submit your observations - thanks
Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
Extreme
Learn how to read the forecast here
Special Announcements
We have a lot of upcoming education and events -
  • The 14th Annual Utah Snow and Avalanche Workshop is virtual again this year and will be held Nov 5th (professional session) and Nov 9th, 10th, 11th evenings from 6-9pm. More info and speaker lineup on our Events page HERE.
  • Check all the upcoming education HERE.
If you're seeing anything we should know about, submit your observations HERE.
Weather and Snow
The Current Picture:
A closed upper level low pressure system moved through overnight, drenching the valleys and laying down a fairly even 6-8" of 10% density snow. The Bunnels snow stake has received 1.38" of precipitation so the upper reaches of the Provo mountains could have upwards of 10-12". It's still snowing. Winds were moderate to strong from the southeast yesterday and have rotated around to the northwest where they're blowing 15mph with gusts to 25. Temps are in the mid-20s. We should continue to see "wrap-around" precipitation through about midday with another 2-4" possible.
We'll see a few more inches this morning before the storm barrels off to the east. Mid-week looks warm and sunny with mountain temperatures rising back into the low to mid-40s. A weak system is on tap for Saturday with what looks to be an atmospheric river event for late weekend into early week. These typically are wet, warm, and windy events. We'll see.
History:
This active October weather reminds me of October 2004 where upper LCC received 122" between October 17th and Halloween. The Alta snow stake sat at a cool 81" on November 1st. But it was not all good news that year - the winter of 04/05 was our most tragic year for avalanche fatalities with eight.
Prior to last night's storm, only a few crusted inches of snow existed on the mid and upper elevation shady aspects.
The current snowfall of medium density should dramatically improve riding conditions but there is only 12-16" in favored areas....
Recent Avalanches
None.
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Additional Information
Knock the rust off and get up to speed with the Utah Avalanche Center podcast. Make sure to catch Early Season Essentials with Bo Torrey HERE or anywhere you get your favorite podcasts.
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