Salt Lake

Dangerous avalanche conditions exist and they will only become more dangerous overnight and into tomorrow.

A CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger exists primarily on steep wind drifted northerly to easterly facing aspects at the mid and upper elevations. Human triggered avalanches 1-3' deep are likely and may be triggered at a distance (remotely). Some natural avalanches are possible due to the wind. A MODERATE avalanche danger exists on all other mid-elevation slopes. Remember that traumatic injury is likely with any avalanche involvement this early season.

By yesterday afternoon, the very low density snow became quite sensitive. Shooting cracks were prevalent and it was easy to trigger shallow (4-8" deep and 40' wide) very soft slabs of wind drifted snow. These all failed within the new snow, just an inch or two above the old rotten snow surface. It only took a whisper of wind. As a sign of things to come, one observer experienced an audible collapse in the snowpack up near Guardsman Pass.

It'll be a completely different game today.

Submit your snow and avalanche observation HERE.

Please be aware of uphill travel policies at the ski areas and respect their closures to keep you and their workers safe. The 5th Annual Avalanche Awareness Week is December 3-10. The week's goal is to save lives through activities that promote avalanche awareness, education, and safety. We have a variety of events around the state. Find an event near you.

The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for the mountains of northern and central Utah through Monday morning as a series of storms move through the region.

Welcome back, Winter.

As of 5am, overnight snow totals are 4-8" of very low density (5-6% density) snow, pushing total snowfall so far to 10-16" in the upper Cottonwoods and 4-8" along the Park City ridgeline. Mountain temperatures are in the teens at most locations and have dropped into the single digits up high. That's the end of the good news. Stop reading if you can't bear the bad.

The winds played the spoiler, picking up out of the west-northwest overnight, blowing 25-30mph with gusts to 50mph. The highest elevations have wind speeds of 50mph with gusts to 75. One particular violent gust reached 100mph just after midnight. Adding insult to injury, the winds are blowing and drifting the low density snow at the mid-elevations as well. (The bad news is only getting started.)

For today, we'll see a bit of a lull in the snowfall though we could squeeze an additional 3-6" of new during the day. Temps will be in the teens. Winds will blow 25-30mph from the west-northwest.

For tonight, we transition to a strong wet, warm, and windy style of storm that will last through early Monday. Heavy snowfall (particularly in the Ogden area mountains) can be expected with the rain-snowline rising from the valleys to perhaps 6500'+, west-northwest winds averaging 45-50mph and temps warming to the mid-20s. Yuk. 15-30" of storm totals can be expected.

Clearing and diminishing winds are expected later Monday. A grazing storm rides to the north Thursday with another storm possible over the weekend.

Remember that snow coverage is still thin, with 2-4' of snow on the ground...and prior to this storm, many southerly aspects were bare.

The Salt Lake National Weather Service has an excellent collection of mountain weather forecasts and current conditions.

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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.