Avalanche forecast

Salt Lake

Issued Jan 17, 2025valid to Jan 18, 2025Utah Avalanche Center

Avalanche danger

Alpine
Treeline
Below treeline

Out of date — this forecast expired 2 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

The avalanche danger is MODERATE on mid and upper elevation aspects facing northwest through north and east where it is possible to trigger an avalanche failing in a buried persistent weak layer 2-4 feet deep.

The avalanche danger is MODERATE on all aspects at the upper elevations where there are fresh soft slabs of wind-drifted snow.

All other slopes have a LOW danger.

Avalanche problems

Persistent Slabs
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
Alpine
Treeline
Below treeline
Likelihood
Possible
Size
3
Our persistent weak layer (PWL) continues to plague us, with direct and remotely-triggered avalanches 2-3 feet deep and up to 200 feet wide occurring almost daily:

Sunday - Butler Basin skier-triggered on north aspect at 9,200'. Rider caught and carried.

Tuesday - High Ivory remotely-triggered on east aspect at 10,000'

Wednesday - Hallway Couloir remotely-triggered on northwest aspect at 10,400'

Thursday - Pioneer Ridge skier-triggered on north aspect at 10,100'. Rider caught and carried. (photo below)

You can find the PWL at the mid and upper elevations on aspects facing west, north, and east (see the locator rose above). Most of the avalanches failing on the PWL are occurring in thinner snowpack areas (such as steep, rocky terrain) where it is easier to trigger the avalanche where it then propagates widely to areas where the snowpack is deeper. Signs of instability - such as cracking and collapsing - are now uncommon and existing tracks on the slope are no indication of stability.

The easiest way to handle this problem is avoid slopes steeper than 30° where this problem exists.

On Thursday, Russ Costa and I traveled to the UFO Bowls in the Provo mountains where we found a shallow snowpack with poor structure. In the video below, I describe how we handled this situation.
Wind Slabs
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
Alpine
Treeline
Below treeline
Likelihood
Possible
Size
2
Westerly winds will create soft slabs of wind-drifted snow on all aspects at the upper elevations. Any fresh wind drifts may be sensitive as they will form on top of slick sun crusts on southerly-facing slopes and weak snow at the surface on shady slopes.

Special Announcement

Join the UAC at Deer Valley on January 30th for the 2nd Annual Blizzard Ball Gala. The night will be full of fun including delicious cuisine, live music, an auction, and presentation by Bruce Tremper.

Recent Activity

There was a skier-triggered avalanche failing in the persistent weak layer on Thursday on Pioneer Ridge in upper Big Cottonwood Canyon. This was on north aspect at 10,100' and the avalanche was up to 2 feet deep and 30 feet wide. The rider was caught and carried, but deployed an airbag and stayed on the surface with no injuries. Their thoughtful incident report is a worthy read. (Photo below.)

Nikki's Week in Review is available. Be sure to read this invaluable resource as part of your regular planning.

We've received several excellent observations over the past several days which you can read by clicking the button below.

Observations and Avalanches

Snow and Weather

This Morning: Partly cloudy skies with temperatures between 15-20° F. Winds are from the west and have increased overnight, averaging in the teens with gusts in the 20's mph between 9,500' and 10,500', with 11,000' winds averaging in the 30's and gusting into the upper 40's mph.

Today: Increasing clouds with temperatures in the 20's F. Winds will be from the west/northwest and increasing ahead of a cold front arriving this afternoon, gusting to 30 mph along exposed ridgelines up to 10,000', with gusts over 50 mph at 11,000'.

Overnight and into Saturday: Strong winds this evening with snowfall developing overnight and into Saturday. We are not expecting large water amounts with this storm system (only perhaps 0.30"), but with such cold air in place, snow densities will be quite low which means we may see 4-8" of snowfall by later Saturday, possibly higher totals in the upper Cottonwoods.

Extended: If you're from, say, Montana or Vermont, you'll feel right at home over the next several days with daytime highs in the low single digits and below 0° overnight.

Additional Info

The Data Explorer for avalanches on the PWL since Christmas Eve.

General Announcements

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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.

Observations and Avalanches

Backcountry Emergency Procedures