Forecast: Provo Area Mountains - Utah Avalanche Center

Forecast for the Provo Area Mountains

Issued by Mark Staples on
Monday morning, April 6, 2020

The main issue today will be soft slab avalanches of wind drifted snow at upper elevations. Strong south winds blew yesterday and are continuing today. For this reason, the avalanche danger at upper elevations is MODERATE.

The avalanche danger at mid and low elevations is LOW.

HEADS UP - The avalanche danger could rise if any significant amount of rain occurs. The snow is already damp. Rain would make it loose cohesion and cause loose wet avalanches to occur. These slides may not be large but would be a bigger problem in confined terrain like gullies or creek bottoms.

Low

Moderate

Considerable

High

Extreme

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We are sad to share the news of two recent avalanche fatalities:

On Wednesday, Trace Carrillo died in an avalanche on Taylor Mountain near Teton Pass. Trace was formerly an intern with the UAC and more recently a wilderness ranger with the Forest Service. Article here. Preliminary report here. On Friday, Rob Kincaid died in an avalanche just north of Palisades Reservoir near the ID/WY stateline. Rob was well known by many snowmobilers as an athlete for Arctic Cat and veteran of many snowmobile competitions. Article here. Preliminary report here.

More details should be available soon about these tragic events but initial reports are that both men were wearing avalanche transceivers that were not turned on.

January 5, 2019 - Read this collection of 6 stories and a podcast about that day with a low avalanche danger, 8 skier-triggered avalanches, four catch and carries, a partial and critical burial, and a trip to the emergency room.

Weather and Snow

Yesterday's storm brought only an inch of snow in the Provo area mountains. Strong south winds blew at upper elevations most of the day.

This morning temperatures are near freezing around 9000 feet. Ridgetop winds are blowing 10-20 mph from the south and gusting 25-45 mph. Even at lower elevations, winds are gusty.

Today an area of low pressure off the California coast will be sending moisture and winds from the southwest over Utah. This means strong south winds will continue with warm air temperatures reaching the low to mid 40s F today. Mostly cloudy skies will bring a trace of snow. ALSO, there could a thunderstorm or two. The rain/snow line should be near 8000 feet.

The snow became damp yesterday afternoon on all aspects up to about 10,000 feet.

Recent Avalanches

There were no reported avalanches in the Provo area mountains yesterday. In the Cottonwood Canyons to the north where 5-10 inches of snow fell, there were seven soft slab avalanches of wind drifted snow reported yesterday as a result of strong south winds.

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

With only an inch of new snow, I don't expect widespread or deep drifts of wind-blown snow. However, strong winds tend to find snow to transport. On Saturday, a group on the north end of Timpanogos found some drifting which caused them to abort their objective. They also found a weakness about 3 feet deep which could have been unstable with the additional weight of wind blown snow on top.

CORNICES - Cornices in some places are massive. These monsters are unpredictable especially during warm weather when they start bending downhill. Avoid being under or near the tops of large cornices.

The video below shows yesterday's strong south winds transporting snow uphill on Mt Superior and blowing snow off the top as well.

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

With above freezing temperatures overnight, the snow at low elevations should be wet this morning and remain wet today. Cloudy skies should keep the snow from getting too wet, and I don't expect any natural avalanches. Small shallow slides of loose wet snow could occur today mostly at low elevations below 8000 feet.

HEADS UP - Watch out if any significant amount of rain falls today which could cause wet loose avalanches to occur.

Additional Information

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This information does not apply to developed ski areas or highways where avalanche control is normally done. This forecast is from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This forecast describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.

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