Avalanche forecast

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Utah Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

  • Alpine
  • Treeline
  • Below treeline
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Out of date — this forecast expired 4 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Today the avalanche danger is HIGH in the backcountry. Large, destructive, and long-running natural avalanches are likely. People should not travel in avalanche terrain and they should stay well clear of obvious and historic avalanche run-outs.

  • With very dangerous avalanche conditions in the backcountry, traveling in avalanche terrain is not recommended, and people should stay off and out from under slopes steeper than 30 degrees.

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Very Likely
    Size
    3

    People who do not stay off and out from under slopes steeper than about 30° are likely to trigger large and dangerous avalanches 2-5 feet deep and perhaps hundreds of feet wide, failing on a buried persistent weak layer. Such an avalanche could be triggered remotely, from a distance or below.

    A sugary persistent weak layer from November is now buried 2-5 feet deep, and any avalanche that fails on it will likely be hundreds of feet wide. We are still able to get consistent test results showing propagating tendencies in many of our test pits..

  • Storm Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Very Likely
    Size
    2
    • Natural avalanches of storm snow are most likely periods of very high precipitation intensity or an increase in drifting.
    • Cracking within the new snow is a obvious sign of unstable snow.
    • With plenty of new snow to work with, the winds will only worsen the avalanche conditions by loading extra weight onto slopes that are already unstable.
    • Of course, people should avoid and stay out from under all wind drifted slopes and slopes with significant accumulations of heavy new snow in the backcountry today.

Avalanche Warning

What: The avalanche danger is expected to be HIGH.

When: In effect from 6 am MST Saturday morning to 6 am MST Monday

Where: For the mountains of northern and central Utah, including southeast Idaho. This includes the Wasatch Range, the Bear River Range, the Western Uintas, and the Manti-Skyline Plateau.

Impacts: Very dangerous avalanche conditions exist. Natural and human triggered avalanches are likely on many slopes and may be triggered at a distance. Stay off of and out from under slopes steeper than 30 degrees.

Recent Activity

On Thursday a backcountry observer noticed a large and destructive avalanche in White Pine Canyon. The avalanche was on a north-facing slope at 8,800' in elevation and was 3 feet deep and 150 feet wide, running to the valley floor.

With a brief increase in visibility on Saturday morning, I noticed three very large new natural avalanches on the big east facing slopes in the Wellsville Range. Here's a picture of one in Gibson canyon:

Be sure to check out all observations HERE.

Snow and Weather

The Winter Storm Warning continues today, and we could see periods of heavy snow and significant accumulations of new snow throughout the day. Opposing the prevailing wind direction, winds veered from the east overnight and will continue blow at upper elevations drifting snow as it falls and forming thicker wind slabs in unusual or perhaps unexpected places.

Snowfall should taper off tonight, and we can expect cloudy and cold conditions in the mountains for the first few days of the New Year...

General Announcements

Remember, when you leave the ski area boundary, Beaver Mt or Cherry Peak, you are entering the backcountry, and you could trigger dangerous avalanches.

As the end of the year approaches, please consider a donation to the UAC to support avalanche forecasting.

Please submit your observations from the backcountry HERE.

For a list of avalanche classes from the Utah Avalanche Center go HERE

For information on where you can ride your sled or snowbike, check out this map of the winter travel plan for the Tony Grove and Franklin Basin Areas HERE.

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.

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