Avalanche forecast

Skyline

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Out of date — this forecast expired 4 years ago.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

The avalanche danger is increasing as we add more snow.

There is a CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger in the upper elevation more northerly facing terrain.

Human triggered slab avalanches are likely.

Avalanches can be triggered from a distance right now so stay out from underneath steep slopes as you could trigger one that comes down on you.

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    2

    By far the biggest concern is triggering an avalanche that breaks into weak sugary snow that formed in January and early February. This buried Persistent Weak Layer is down about 12 to 18" plus the 4 inches of new snow we just received. This layer is still quite unstable with the most recent snowmobile remotely triggered slide occurring on Thursday. The most likely places to trigger a slide are slopes steeper than 30˚ on northwest, north, northeast and east facing slopes above 9500'. Buried sugary faceted snow is notorious for being unpredictable. This type of situation is what kills most people in avalanche accidents. You can't outthink it. All you can do is wait to get onto steep slopes until the weak layer has stabilized. This sugary faceted snow is also notorious for taking a long time to stabilize, hence the reason we call it a Persistent Weak Layer.

Recent Activity

There was no avalanche activity reported from Friday. Here are some interesting statistics from recently.

  • I've recorded 26 significant avalanches since Feb 17. I have two more to add this morning. This does not include a slew of smaller slab avalanches scattered around the range.
  • 12 of these have been human triggered avalanches. One more that I'm adding this morning was also human triggered. There were a number more that I heard of but details are vague.
  • All of the avalanches I've recorded were higher than 9700'.
  • The slope aspects of these avalanches ranged from northwest, north, northeast and east. The majority were recorded as northeast.

Here is the complete list: SKYLINE AVALANCHE LIST

Snow and Weather

Current Conditions

The Skyline picked up 4 to 5 inches of snow in the last 24 hours. Temperatures cooled into the low to mid 20s. Southerly wind has increased into the moderate speed category along the higher terrain. Wind looks pretty light down in the canyons.

Mountain Weather

Here's how the rest of the storm looks like it'll play out. Our best chance for snow will be later this afternoon and into tonight with a southerly flow. 5 to 8 inches is what I'm expecting. As the system continues to move through, the flow will shift northwest and we'll see one more period of light snow on Sunday. At this point it doesn't look like it'll add much more than a trace to a few inches. The next chance of snow is a storm shaping up for Wednesday.

Additional Info

SKYLINE AVALANCHES & OBSERVATIONS

CAMERAS & WEATHER STATIONS

INSTAGRAM: SKYLINE_AVALANCHE

FACEBOOK: SKYLINE AVALANCHE

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General Announcements

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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