Boletín de aludes

Provo

Publicado el Feb 23, 2022válido hasta el Feb 24, 2022Utah Avalanche Center

Peligro de aludes

Alta montaña
Límite del bosque
Bajo el límite del bosque

Desactualizado: este boletín caducó 5 years ago. Estás viendo condiciones pasadas, no el boletín vigente.

Lo esencial

I want to be clear. Avalanche conditions are now dangerous in many areas. We now have just enough snow and wind to tip the scales.

A CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger exists on many mid and upper elevation west to north to east facing slopes. These types of avalanches are what we call unmanageable as you can trigger them from a distance. These are prime accident conditions.

A MODERATE danger exists for all other freshly wind loaded slopes.

Problemas de aludes

Persistent Slabs
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
Alta montaña
Límite del bosque
Bajo el límite del bosque
Probabilidad
Likely
Tamaño
2
These are prime conditions for backcountry accidents and close calls...

More snow and more wind will lead to more avalanches. The winds have been from the east and so loading patterns will be different than what you may be used to.

Today's soft slab avalanches into our buried persistent weak layer/PWL (the Jan/Feb drought layer of facets) will be tricky, unusual, and dangerous and widely variable....as the snowpack has become widely variable over the past two months (!).

You must assume that any steep slope facing west to north to east will be unstable and that you will trigger a 1-2'+ deep avalanche. Collapsing and cracking are key indicators of instability. Know that you can trigger these avalanches from a distance or below...where trigger spots may even be more likely at mid-slope breakovers or around other terrain features.

Yesterday's avalanches were only 20-40' wide. Today they will probably be 150'+ wide.
Wind Slabs
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
Alta montaña
Límite del bosque
Bajo el límite del bosque
Probabilidad
Possible
Tamaño
2
East winds. Wind drifts will be most prevalent on north to west to south facing terrain but terrain channeling can develop drifts onto any aspect. Even mid-elevation anemometers overnight clearly held wind speeds suitable for perfect wind slab development. Watching for shooting cracks or collapsing in the new drifts.

Recent Activity

Our snowpack has begun to tip its hand. We didn't hear of any avalanches in the Provo mountains, but activity noted below in the central Wasatch mirrors what I expect in the Provo mountains.

We had not one but three canaries in the coal mine yesterday. In other words, we had *just* enough new snow and *just* enough wind to start to develop a slab over our widely advertised Jan/Feb drought layer. And overnight we've added more snow and more wind.

Kessler Peak of BCC: 9600' NE facing. A skier collapsed the slope and triggered a 12" deep and 20' wide pocket while ascending the Patterson ridge and was nearly caught in the slide.

Broads Fork of BCC: 9400' NE facing A skier remotely triggered a 10" deep and 40' wide from 15' away

Mill B South of BCC: 8500' East facing A skier unintentionally triggered an 18" deep and 20' wide pocket in steep rocky terrain

(We very much appreciate these key observations/reports. Many can be found on our Avalanches and Observations page in the menu above.)

Otherwise, we had more reports of sluffing in the low density snow in the steeper terrain.

Snow and Weather

The Provo mountains received another 3-6" overnight with storm totals of about 12"/1.0"SWE.

Mountain temperatures are in the single digits and working their way toward 0°F

The east northeast winds are blowing 20-30mph with gusts to 35.

If we're lucky, we'll squeeze another 1-3" out of this storm before it moves on. Winds will shift to the northwest and diminish by midday; temps will drop to the low single digits and below.

Skies will start to trend mostly cloudy this evening with some clearing for tomorrow ahead of a weak disturbance tomorrow night into Friday. Clear and warm for the weekend.

General Announcements

Who's up for some free avalanche training? Get a refresher, become better prepared for an upcoming avalanche class, or just boost your skills. Go to https://learn.kbyg.org/ and scroll down to Step 2 for a series of interactive online avalanche courses produced by the UAC.

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