We've ramped back up to HIGH avalanche danger in the upper elevations today, particularly on steep wind drifted slopes. The most dangerous areas will be on northwest to north to east facing slopes but you may be able to trigger avalanches anywhere on the compass today. Remember that you'll be able to trigger avalanches at a distance.
When things become complex and dangerous, the travel advice is easy: Avoid All Avalanche Terrain today. This includes runout zones.
If you are stepping out of bounds at a ski area, you are stepping into dangerous avalanche terrain.
New snow soft slab avalanches should also be easy to trigger today in the upside down snow. Note that any new slab avalanche may step down into the older faceted snow layers.
The overnight snow and wind may be enough stress to make triggering deep and dangerous avalanches likely again today. Natural activity is possible in some areas. We clearly have a strong slab 2-4 feet thick overlying a persistent weak layer (PWL) of weak sugary faceted grains and there's no mystery here: avalanches, cracking and collapsing are nearly omnipresent.
You will be able to trigger freshly wind drifted slopes today. These cakey soft slabs up to 2 feet thick will be most pronounced on mid and upper elevation slopes with an easterly component, but avoid any slope with recent deposits of wind drifted snow. Note that any new slab avalanche may step down into the older faceted snow layers.
We are deeply saddened to confirm two avalanche fatalities. The first involved a 38 year old man in Main Porter Fork of Mill Creek Canyon who went missing on Saturday. The second avalanche fatality occurred Tuesday that involved a 54 year old man off Davenport Hill into Silver Fork of BCC. Both individuals were traveling alone in the backcountry. Our condolences go out to to the family and friends of the victims.
Many thanks to those who responded to these accidents: search and rescue teams from AirMed, LifeFlight, Utah Dept Public Safety, Utah Department of Transportation, Salt Lake County Search and Rescue, Wasatch Backcountry Rescue, Alta Ski Area, and members of the Utah Avalanche Center.
Main Porter Preliminary Accident Report (1st photo - SL County SAR) Original avalanche obscured by recent snow/wind. Avalanches in photo are from explosives to protect rescuers.
Davenport Hill Preliminary Accident Report (2nd photo - Wasatch Backcountry Rescue) The victim was buried 20 feet deep.
Ski areas reported mixed results with "touchy" soft slabs in parts of the wind zone. No reports of avalanches from the backcountry yesterday, but there'll be no rest for the wicked. I imagine we'll hear of some today.
Reminder: Please call your closest ski patrol dispatch (INFO) if you happen to witness a new avalanche and are sure there is no one involved. This allows rescue teams to stand down and not stick their necks out if they're not needed. Thank you -
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We call these "Warm fronts"..."Warm air advection"...With a little bit of lift in the atmosphere, we get heavy dense snow becoming denser with the storm, rising temperatures, wind and maybe some rime to cap things off. It's a storm only a mother could love.
Mountain temperatures are rising and are in the mid 20s to low 30s. Winds are blowing from the west, blowing 25-30mph with gusts to 40.
Storm totals so far are 4-6" with three-quarters to an inch of snow water equivalent. Dense snow!
Snowfall and wind should start to taper off by late morning and we may squeeze another 2-4" before it's all said and done. Winds will blow 15-20mph from the west-northwest. Mountain temperatures will be rising to the mid to upper 30s overnight(!) A brief and transitory shortwave ridge builds in tonight into tomorrow to bring clearing overnight into Friday. Temperatures remain warm tomorrow ahead of Saturday's cold front. "Storms" are on tap Saturday, Sunday, and possibly early week. None of them look like blockbusters, but they'll add up to something.
Skiing and riding conditions today will be variable: areas of surfy graupel, areas with wavy wind drifts, areas of cakey upside down snow. Pull out the big ride today - you'll need it because you can't go into steep terrain anyway. I think we've pushed back into HIGH avalanche danger in some areas.
Researchers Ian McCammon and Kelly McNeil looked into safety habits that markedly increase our margins of safety. Please take a moment to look over these and recalibrate your safety habits: Six Tips That Could Save Your Life (Recent updates to Safety Messaging)
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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.
