Lawinenlagebericht

Salt Lake

Veröffentlicht am Feb 18, 2025gültig bis Feb 19, 2025Utah Avalanche Center

Lawinengefahr

Hochgebirge
Waldgrenze
Unterhalb der Waldgrenze

Veraltet — dieser Lagebericht ist 2 years ago abgelaufen. Du siehst vergangene Verhältnisse, nicht den aktuellen Bericht.

Kernpunkte

The avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE on all aspects and elevations. Human-triggered avalanches are likely on most slopes, especially on those with buried weak layers.

My travel advice today: Avoid travel in avalanche terrain.

Lawinenprobleme

Persistent Slabs
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
Hochgebirge
Waldgrenze
Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
Wahrscheinlichkeit
Likely
Größe
3
This is not our typical February Wasatch setup as we have four weak layers buried in the snowpack:

1. November / December faceted snow near the ground.

2. Slopes that have previously avalanched (repeaters).

3. Late January faceted snow.

4. Facet/crust combo on SE-facing slopes. The locator rose now includes low and mid-elevation southeast-facing slopes.

Avalanches can fail on a variety of weak layers, and it's hard to determine which one. Now is not the time to thread the needle trying to find the one steep slope that won’t slide because there is too much spatial variability. Until the snowpack becomes less complex, we recommend staying out of avalanche terrain.
Wind Slabs
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
Hochgebirge
Waldgrenze
Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
Wahrscheinlichkeit
Likely
Größe
3
Elevated winds have continued to create sensitive wind drifts on all aspects at mid and upper elevations. Cornices have grown large and may break further from ridgelines than expected. Any avalanche involving wind-drifted snow may step down to a buried persistent weak layer.

Recent Activity

Yesterday, there was a close call when a skier triggered a large avalanche in Mill A Basin (photo below) and was luckily able to grab a tree branch and let the snow wash around them. The avalanche was 2' deep and 500' wide and ran about 800' vertical. Reports of natural activity from the weekend keep trickling in. Over the past week, 60 avalanches (more than half were human-triggered) have been reported to the UAC.

Read all observations HERE.

Snow and Weather

Widespread signs of instability are slowly decreasing, as are natural avalanches, but the fact remains that none of us trust this snowpack. We’ve seen avalanches on almost every aspect and elevation in the past 5 days, and because there are multiple weak layers, you can’t be sure which one will fail. I don’t encourage anyone to try to navigate the hazard right now. Plenty of excellent powder riding can be found on slopes less than 30 degrees. Plain and simple.

Overnight, winds have been blowing from the west-northwest in the teens MPH with gusts in the 20s MPH. 11,000' ridgelines have been blowing steady in the 30s MPH with gusts in the 40s and 50s MPH. Temperatures at upper elevation trailheads are in teens F and lower trailheads are in the 20s F this morning. In the past 24 hours, the mountains have picked up 5-9" of snow containing .27-.72" of SWE.

The NWS Winter Weather Advisory continues through noon today, and the mountains could pick up another 1-3 inches of snow before the skies clear this afternoon/evening. Expect mostly cloudy skies, with 10,000' high temperatures in the teens F. Winds from the west-northwest will blow 5 to 10 MPH with gusts in the teens on 9000' ridgelines and 25 MPH with gusts near 40 MPH at 11,000'.

Additional Info

We've had four people tragically die already this year. Please do not try to outsmart the snowpack. Keep it simple and avoid steep terrain.

General Announcements

CLICK HERE FOR MORE GENERAL INFO AND FAQ

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