Avalanche forecast

Salt Lake

Issued Mar 12, 2026valid to Mar 13, 2026Utah Avalanche Center

View on map

Avalanche danger

Alpine
Treeline
Below treeline

Open full map

Out of date — this forecast expired 5 months ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

The avalanche danger is LOW and Normal Caution is advised.

Wet loose sluffs may occur with daytime warming. The buried PWL (persistent weak layer) is mostly dormant and triggering one of these hard slabs is unlikely but not impossible. Continue to avoid glide avalanche terrain such as Stairs, Broads, Mill B South, and upper Porter Fork.

Remember that risk is inherent in mountain travel.

Avalanche problems

Persistent Slabs
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
Alpine
Treeline
Below treeline
Likelihood
Unlikely
Size
3
The Dry January Layer (DJL) of faceted snow is 2-4 feet deep and buried by a strong slab and supportable crusts, with the last reported human-triggered avalanche failing on the DJL was nearly two weeks ago. An outlier large natural avalanche, however, ran at the end of the storm on March 6th in Stairs Gulch, extreme terrain in mid-Big Cottonwood Canyon.

The bulk of the avalanche failing on the PWL occurred during the mid-February avalanche cycle, with two outliers releasing at the end of the last storm.

We now view the PWL as dormant and human triggered avalanches are unlikely but not impossible. If you're looking for trouble, however, you may find it in recently wind loaded, steep, thin, rocky terrain in the highest elevations on the north side of the compass; you know, extreme terrain like Stairs Gulch, Lone Peak, the Coalpit Headwall, Airplane Peak; etc.

Looking ahead: with the skyrocketing temperatures next week, we anticipate the PWL becoming active again as melt water percolates down to the faceted grains and wet slab avalanches become our central avalanche problem. Stay tuned.

Recent Activity

A glide avalanche was observed in Bonkers on a north-facing slope at 9,800'. The slide failed on the ground interface, taking out the entire depth of the snowpack, and was approximately 5' deep, 60' wide, and ran about 500 vertical feet. This avalanche likely occurred on Monday. The debris covered several downhill ski tracks and the skin track. Otherwise no new observations from the backcountry.

Snow and Weather

Mud on the skis - a sign of the times

Skies are clear.

Mountain temperatures and northwest winds have been on the rise all night. As of 5AM, temps are in the upper 20s to low 30s. Winds are strong along the exposed ridgelines, blowing 40-50mph with gusts to 70. A ridge of high pressure parked off the California coast shields us from the storms, pushing them into Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. But at least we'll see wind.

For today, we'll have mostly sunny skies with some high cirrus floating through. Winds will remain moderate to strong from the northwest; temps will rise to the mid-30s up high, the upper 40s down low. Riding conditions: sun, temperature, and wind crusts dominate the landscape. With proper timing, you'll find soft and creamy corn skiing on solar aspects. With improper timing, you'll find scary and teeth-rattling slide-for-life conditions on the frozen crusts on the early side and unsupportable glop and wet sluff potential on the late side.

The Outlook: A STRONG cold front crashes through on Saturday, plunging temperatures to the low single digits, but alas it's a mostly dry cold front. We may see 2-4" if we're lucky. Spring rebounds next week and (read this slowly...) indeed it does look as if the sun - yes, our sun - touches down mid-week (GFS weather model below) as mountain temperatures soar into the 50s up high with little to no refreeze. Side note - there is a better than even chance that valley temps exceed 80°F on Wednesday. According to the NWS, this would smash the record for the earliest 80°F day in Salt Lake City, with the previous record earliest 80°F day occurring on March 31st.

General Announcements

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