The avalanche danger will rise to MODERATE on all steep wind drifted slopes today. It will be possible to trigger shallow soft slabs of wind drifted snow up to a foot thick and these will be primarily found on upper elevation northwest to east facing slopes. Remember that cracking and collapsing are sure giveaways to unstable snow. Triggering an avalanche into older weaker layering on these same aspects and elevations is unlikely but not impossible.
By midday into the late afternoon, it will be possible to trigger shallow new pockets of wind drifted snow. These wind drifts will be primarily found in the upper elevations on northwest to east facing slopes and may be triggered at a distance. Shallower pockets may be found in the mid-elevations as well. Remember that cracking and collapsing are sure-fire giveaways to unstable snow.
A poor structure exists in the cold shady terrain and the last avalanche triggered on this strong over weak layering was in the SLC mountains on Nov 30th and the Provo mountains on Nov 26th. Until yesterday, that is: avalanche teams at Park City Mountain Resort triggered a 1-2 foot deep and 75 foot wide soft slab avalanche that ripped out to the ground on a steep north facing slope at 9900'. It looked to be a more wind loaded piece of terrain. The clear take home point is that avalanches are unlikely but not impossible...and demonstrates the mercurial character and spatial variability of old weak faceted snow. This structure is most prevalent on the shady slopes of the upper elevations.
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No new avalanche activity was reported from the Provo area mountains.
Check out all recent observations HERE.
We have a weak storm on tap for tonight that may usher in a trace to an inch of snow. Ahead of the storm, we'll see increasing clouds, increasing winds from the southwest, and mountain temperatures rising into the upper 30s to low 40s. Currently, skies are partly cloudy with overnight lows in mid-20s up high, the mid-30s down low. We have another storm on tap for late weekend and another disturbance for Tuesday.
Travel is a bit rugged in the Provo mountains with just 1-2' of snow on the ground. Many solar aspects have burnt back to the ground.
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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.
