Avalanche forecast

Salt Lake

Issued Apr 8, 2024valid to Apr 9, 2024Utah 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Out of date — this forecast expired 2 years ago.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

Areas of MODERATE avalanche danger exist in the upper elevations for lingering pockets of wind drifted snow. These pockets of soft slab will be primarily found on steep north to east to south facing terrain.

The danger for wet avalanches will also rise to MODERATE (or higher) on all steep solar aspects. Cloud cover will be a wild card across the range - you'll need to watch how the snow is changing under your feet and adjust accordingly.

Avalanche problems

Wind Slabs
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
Alpine
Treeline
Below treeline
Likelihood
Possible
Size
2
You can still trigger lingering soft slabs of wind drifted snow in steep terrain this morning. These will be most pronounced along the upper elevations and more likely on north to east to southerly facing aspects. Shooting cracks are dead give-aways for lingering instabilities. Continue to avoid round, pillowy deposits of wind drifted snow. Continue to have your A game on - keep an eye on each other and keep with strict travel protocols.

Forecasters Nikki Champion, Dave Kelly, and I separately covered areas in BCC, LCC, and the Wasatch Back and found mostly stable snow yesterday. The newest storm snow seemed well bonded to the old snow surfaces with intra-storm weaknesses healing rapidly.
Loose Wet
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
Alpine
Treeline
Below treeline
Likelihood
Possible
Size
2
Wet avalanches will be increasingly possible with periods of sun and slowly warming temperatures. I don't think things will get out of hand, but don't discount the April sun to trigger some wet and dry sluffs in the steepest terrain, at a minimum. If we see more sun than expected, you'll see all the tell-tale signs and pre-cursors of wet avalanches (pinwheels, rollerballs, etc) and you'll want to avoid being on or beneath steep sun-affected terrain.

Recent Activity

Ski area avalanche teams yesterday triggered new soft slab avalanches and loose snow sluffs large enough to bury a person. These slabs were generally relegated to the higher elevation bands. While traveling along the Wasatch Back near the Ant Knolls, Dave and Chad saw one fresh wind-drifted snow avalanche on a north facing slope at 9300'. The avalanche had a small 8"-10" crown that was approximately 50' wide and ran 200' vertical feet.

Snow and Weather

Now THAT was a nice spring storm for the Wasatch with snow totals of up to 16-24" (1.40-1.90" snow water equivalent) in the upper Cottonwoods and along the Park City ridgeline.

Currently, skies are partly cloudy with light winds from the west northwest. Along the highest ridgelines, winds blew 25-30mph with gusts to 35 for a few hours overnight, but are much diminished since then. Temperatures are in the upper single digits to low teens.

News flash - skiing and riding conditions are excellent.

For today, we'll have partly cloudy skies with a chance of an afternoon shower or two. Winds will be light from the northwest. Mercifully, temperatures will slowly warm into the low to mid-20s up high, the low 30s down low.

The Outlook: slowly warming temperatures and a building ridge of high pressure for the week. Friday's mountain temps are expected to soar into the upper 40s to low 50s. The models suggest another storm for the late weekend into early next week...but a lot can change between now and then.

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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.

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