Salt Lake

The avalanche danger is MODERATE on slopes facing northwest through north and east at the mid and upper elevations and on upper elevation southeast and west facing aspects where it may be possible to trigger an avalanche up to 2' deep and 80' wide failing on a persistent weak layer of faceted snow near the ground. The avalanche danger is LOW on all other aspects and elevations. As our snowpack adjusts to the most recent snow; the in-your-face nature of this problem such as cracking, collapsing, and recent avalanches will be harder to see. Carefully assess where these buried facets may be before ascending or descending a slope greater than 30° in steepness.

The 17th Annual Utah Snow and Avalanche Workshop (USAW) is scheduled for Saturday December 7th - Information and tickets available here. If you trigger or see an avalanche adjacent to the road or one of the ski areas and are sure no one was caught in the avalanche, call the nearest mountain dispatch and alert them to the situation, this will allow SAR teams to stand down, preventing them from being subjected to unnecessary hazard.

• Salt Lake and Park City – Alta Central- (801-742-2033)
• Canyons Resort/PCMR Dispatch- (435 -615-1911)

Quick refresher on Backcountry Emergencies and Avalanche Response HERE. You may just save a life

Seven avalanches have been reported from the backcountry since Wednesday November 27th. These avalanches all failed on faceted snow near the ground. Check out all recent activity HERE.

• Natural Honeycomb (Big Cottonwood) backcountry terrain
• Skier triggered Davenport Hill (Silver Fork)
• Skier triggered Scott's Bowl (Park City Ridgeline)
• Snowboarder triggered West Monitor (Park City Ridgeline)
• Skier triggered Two Dogs (Days Fork)
• Skier triggered Silver Fork Headwall (Silver Fork)
• Unknown trigger Lanes Leap (Big Cottonwood Canyon)

Video of propagation on Two Dogs Avalanche. North facing slope (10,260')

Video: (Sam K)

Under clear skies mountain temperatures are in the teens to low 20's°F. Some localized stations like Spruces and Cardiff are in the single digits °F. Winds are blowing primarily from the west- northwest in the teens gusting to the 20's MPH at the 9,000' ridgelines and from the west in the high 20's gusting to the 40's MPH at the highest ridgelines. The snow surface is a mixed bag. You'll find melt freeze crust on the southerly aspects in the morning that will warm up in the afternoon sun. Yesterday, we found hot pow on the southerly facing slopes in the early afternoon. The surface on the north facing slopes is starting to facet and there are still wildflowers and rocks poking through on all aspects. Today, skies will be mostly clear with high clouds in the early afternoon. Temperatures will be 20-27°F and winds will blow from a westerly direction 5 gusting to 10 at the 9,000 ridgelines and from the west-northwest 30 gusting to 40 MPH at the 11,000 ridgelines. The freezing level will be at valley level and slowly rising over the next few days as an inversion sets in. The forecast looks good for continued facet growth on northerly facing aspects over the next week.

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

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