Forecast: Salt Lake Area Mountains - Utah Avalanche Center

Special Announcements

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Weather and Snow

Currently under overcast skies trailhead temperatures are in the mid-teens °F while the highest peaks are in the low-teens °F. Winds are blowing lightly from the west-northwest gusting to the 20's MPH at the lower ridge-lines and blowing from the west-northwest in the mid 20's gusting to the high 30's and a max gust of 49 MPH at the highest ridge-lines. There was another 2"-6" of new snow in the last 24 hours bringing storm totals to 16"-33" of snow and 1.40"-2.78" water. This storm has sneakily added a decent amount of water to some locations particularly in the Upper Cottonwoods where settled new snow depth is now over 2'.

Today, look for overcast skies with increasing chances of snow, wind, and lightning this afternoon. Temperatures are forecast to be 28-33°F with winds blowing from the west-northwest 15 gusting to 20 MPH at the 9,000' ridge-lines and 30 gusting to 35 MPH at the 11,000' ridge-lines with chances for higher winds during increased snowfall. Look for 2"-4" of new snow with the off chance of 4"-6" and up to .50" water in select areas with increasing snowfall rates and winds this afternoon. The freezing level should stay around 5,000' which means that with cloudy skies and colder temperatures the snow surface will stay soft making for excellent travel today. With any hint of sun today the snow surface will heat up quickly and green-housing could occur on all aspects and elevations.

Read the updated forecast discussion from our partners at the National Weather Service HERE.

Recent Avalanches

Yesterday, we had reports of soft slab avalanches up to 10"-18" deep in Main Days, Argenta, Kessler, Broads, Gobblers, and Cardiff. The avalanche that got my attention was in Silver Fork. It was reported as 2.5' deep, 100' wide and ran 400' vertical feet (photo below). This avalanche is unique in that it appears to have started as a dry snow avalanche that took a hint of warming and then transitioned to a wet snow avalanche. It is much deeper than the other reported avalanches from the last two days and has more slab like characteristics.

(Photo: Yannick)

The Solitude Ski Patrol went to take a look at the debris as they could see tracks nearby. They performed a beacon search and did not find any signals. If you see or trigger an avalanche in the backcountry near a ski area or highway and everyone is ok, please report it.

Read all the observations HERE.

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

Over the last few days, the new snow has been reactive to backcountry travelers. The layer of weakness in most cases has been density changes within the newest snow. This weak layer was starting to settle out below 8,000' where it has become more difficult to trigger avalanches at lower elevations. The standout avalanche was the slide (photo above) in Silver Fork that was much deeper and had more slab characteristics than other reported avalanches. This debris in this slide was deep enough to have buried a rider and while it still meets the description fitting of moderate avalanche danger it would be considered a large avalanche in an isolated area.

Today, it will be possible trigger a new snow avalanche failing on a density change. Any new snow that comes in this afternoon will be sensitive to backcountry travelers on steep slopes. IF the slope has had any wind or sun affect you may be able to trigger soft slab avalanches 14"-18" deep breaking above you.

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

Springtime in the mountains. What this means is that like the last weekend at your favorite ski resort most anything goes. You may see new snow avalanches, wind-drifted snow avalanches, wet snow avalanches, green-housing (filtered sun creating rapid warming of the snowpack at all elevations and aspects), glide avalanches, and thunder snow.

It's the time of year when it's easy to fall back on heuristic traps based on past experience, particularly familiarity. Keep your head about you when traveling in the mountains as even a small avalanche could have real consequences. Read more about heuristics and decision making from local avalanche researcher Ian McCammon HERE.

General Announcements

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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.

Observations and Avalanches

Backcountry Emergency Procedures