Salt Lake

The avalanche danger is LOW and the snowpack is mostly stable. But low danger doesn’t mean no danger - avalanches can be triggered on isolated terrain features. The most likely slopes would be those facing north through easterly at the upper elevations, or any steep slope with a recent drift of wind blown snow.

Travel one at a time in steep terrain, keep your partner in sight, and be in position to get to them quickly should there be an avalanche.

The new UAC IOS mobile app is now available on the app store. Check out the new "My Weather" feature.

Check out the new free online avalanche course series developed by the Utah Avalanche Center. This is a great way to refresh your skills or prepare you for a Backcountry 101 or Level 1 class.

No new avalanches reported yesterday. Here is a list of all recent observations: HERE

Every week Greg Gagne puts together a recap of the recent events over the past week called the "Week in Review" it's a great resource to catch up on current events or to simply look at the trend over the past week. You can find it HERE.

Under west-south-west flow this morning we will see increasing clouds, ushered in from the west, along with a few inches inches of new snow possible before clearing out this afternoon. Fortunately, there is a progressive pattern setting up as a series of storms cross northern Utah over the next week. The first in the series is a fast moving shortwave that will be here late this evening and could bring 2-4" of new snow before clearing out by Saturday morning. A short and brief period of high pressure over the weekend before a more organized and better looking storm slated for Christmas day.

Westerly winds have increased and are currently blowing 15-20 mph gusting into the mid 20's across the upper elevations. Mid elevation anemometers are spinning 10-15 mph gusting into the low 20's. Current temperatures are in the low 30's °F at 10,000'.

The snow surface over the past week has taken a beating from the wind and sun. However, Wednesday's angry two inches of graupel along with the wind helped to smooth the snow surface and save the day. It's not over the head and over the hood, but, there remains soft, spongy turns and many backcountry travelers reported good riding and turning conditions in the backcountry. Southerly facing terrain will be crusted.

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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.