Salt Lake
Danger d’avalanche
- Alpin
- Limite forestière
- Sous la limite forestière
Points saillants
The snowpack is generally stable and the avalanche danger is LOW. Our primary concerns are small slides in consequential terrain. Watch for sensitive pockets of wind-drifted snow in exposed mid and upper elevation terrain up to 8 inches deep. Loose dry sluffs of weak snow, or facet-lanches, are becoming deeper and more common in sheltered northerly terrain.
Expect wind slabs to slightly increase in size and reactivity with the potential for new snowfall this afternoon into tomorrow.
Recent Activity
No Name Bowl, PC Ridgeline - Mark White noted dry loose facet sluffs on Monday. While small, in the wrong terrain these can easily knock you off your feet, and are growing in size as the snowpack continues to weaken.
Upper LCC/BCC - Dave Kelly and Drew Hardesty found an unsurprisingly weak snowpack and 2-4" deep facet sluffs yesterday.
On Sunday, observers who found sensitive, shallow wind drifts in exposed terrain at mid and upper elevations. These drifts were shallow (up to six inches deep) and propagated up to 10 feet wide, with one rider caught and briefly carried on Mt. Raymond.
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Snow and Weather
Yesterday, cold weather persisted with mountain highs hitting the low to mid 20s F, with thin high clouds building into the evening. Winds from the west blew into the teens mph, with gusts into the mid 20s to 30s mph able to transport dry, faceted surface snow.
Today, a small system to our north will bring cloudy skies and the potential for...drumroll, please...1-4" of new snow(!) to favored areas (LCC, BCC) later this afternoon into this evening. It ain't much, but it's honest. Less than 0.3" H2O by tomorrow morning, with many areas like the PC Ridgeline and Wasatch Back seeing closer to a trace. Winds will be light from the west.
This persistent ridge of high pressure isn't exactly what we dream of in late January. I'd rather be getting face shots too, but I encourage you to be like the ridge, and be persistent in your season. Beacon practice, getting a lesson in garage science and sled mods from Kowboy down in Spring City, long walks into far terrain, and looking into the finer muff pot recipes with Nikki have all been on my menu lately. There won't be an excuse not to have a tuned-up machine, sharp edges, and dino nuggets at the ready when the next big snowfall comes...
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.