Avalanche forecast

Skyline

Utah Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

  • Alpine
  • Treeline
  • Below treeline
Out of date — this forecast expired 7 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

The overall avalanche danger is MODERATE today in the majority of the terrain along the Skyline. Keep in mind the avalanche danger remains CONSIDERABLE in the high elevation northwest, north and northeast facing terrain where collapsing continues and avalanches are still likely.

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    2

    The old weak sugar snow from October continues to prove it's weak enough to cause avalanches on those high elevation northwest, north and northeast facing slopes. At this point the slope needs to be pushing 40 degrees in order to avalanche. Don't mess with these slopes right now. We'll keep an eye on the progression of the weak layer and hopefully it will heal in a reasonably short time frame rather than lingering for half the winter. Stay tuned.

Special Announcement

Welcome to the First Annual Avalanche Awareness Week. We have 20 events scheduled for this week. Check out the schedule here and we hope to see you at an event.

Need a Christmas present for your favorite backcountry partner? Get one of these cool t-shirts to support the UAC and other avalanche centers across the U.S.

As part of your early season tune-up, consider taking an avalanche class. We have lots of avalanche education classes listed already, from Know Before You Go to Companion Rescue to our Backcountry 101. Click on the Education menu on our webpage for a full list of classes from the UAC and other providers. Check out the Know Before You Go eLearning program for free, online, avalanche classes.

Recent Activity

No avalanches were reported from the backcountry on Tuesday. However, collapsing of the snowpack continued on those upper elevation more northerly facing steep slopes. This is a sure sign that the snowpack remains unstable.

Snow and Weather

The snowpack has consolidated and become supportable in most locations. Travel is quite easy at this point. There still isn't enough snow for any real snowmobiling off the roads. This is a decent start for the winter. We need to see more snow being added to the snowpack soon otherwise it will start to weaken and turn into faceted sugar snow. Looking at the weather, it does look like the pattern is active although there are no huge storms on our doorstep. The next storm will move through late today into Thursday bringing 3 to 6 inches. The next storm looks like it'll be here late Saturday into Sunday. This one might bring a little more snow than Thursday's storm.

Additional Info

SKYLINE AVALANCHES & OBSERVATIONS

CAMERAS & WEATHER STATIONS

INSTAGRAM: SKYLINE_AVALANCHE

FACEBOOK: SKYLINE AVALANCHE

FORECAST EMAIL

PREVIOUS FORECASTS

This forecast is from the U.S. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This forecast describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.

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