Salt Lake
Pericolo valanghe
- Alta quota
- Limite del bosco
- Sotto il limite del bosco
In sintesi
The avalanche danger is LOW and natural and human-triggered avalanches are unlikely.
Continue to maintain safe travel habits; this means exposing one person at a time to avalanche terrain, having someone watch them from a safe location, and not traveling above or below other parties.
Special Announcement
Our partners at the National Weather Service are looking for feedback on their mountain and avalanche weather information page. If you use their site, take a few minutes to give them feedback through this survey.
Recent Activity
No avalanches were reported from the backcountry, but control work at a local resort pried out an avalanche 1-4' deep failing in the persistent weak layer (PWL) down near the ground.
Pro observer Sam Kapacinskas toured around Wolverine on Thursday and found a stable snowpack, noting that warm temperatures this past week have helped heal the weak snow that had formed at the old snow surface.
Snow and Weather
Happy first day of winter!
As of 6 am, skies are partly cloudy and temperatures range through the 20's F. Winds are from the south/southwest and light, gusting into the teens mph along some exposed upper-elevation ridges and peaks.
Today won't quite feel like the first day of winter with periods of sun and temperatures warming into the mid and upper 30's F. Winds will be from the south/southwest and remain light, gusting into the teens, with stronger gusts possible by the afternoon.
The weekend storm looks less promising with each model run, but hopefully, we'll pick up 3-6" of new snow by Sunday. High pressure to return on Monday and lasting through at least mid-week.
Above about 9,000', recent warm weather has firmed up the snowpack making for supportable travel conditions and the few inches of dense snow from the past few days has greatly improved the riding. Any snow we receive this weekend will only enhance the conditions.
To celebrate the first day of winter, a few lines from Mary Oliver's poem "Snowy Night"
Snow was falling,
so much like stars
filling the dark trees
that one could easily imagine
its reason for being was nothing more
than prettiness.
Additional Info
What happened to the Persistent Weak Layer (PWL) problem? The PWL problem first appeared in the December 1 forecast and was removed from the forecast on Wednesday, December 20. On Thursday, December 21, forecasters Nikki Champion and Greg Gagne talked about the PWL problem over a Zoom call and their 5-minute discussion is below.
General Announcements
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.