Salt Lake Avalanche Advisory

Forecaster: Brett Kobernik

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
We've got a couple of FREE avalanche education events coming up: A Free Avalanche Awareness talk this Wednesday, November 30, at 9 pm at Milosport- 359 E University Pkwy, Orem, Utah 84058 A Free Women's Avalanche Beacon clinic, Dec 5th, 8:30-11:00 am, at the Albion Grill, Alta. Click on Education in the main menu for a complete listing of avalanche classes and talks.

BOTTOM LINE

Danger by aspect and elevation on slopes approaching 35° or steeper.
(click HERE for tomorrow's danger rating)


Danger Rose Tutorial

Pockets of a CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger remain in those steep upper elevation northerly slopes. Most seasoned backcountry travelers continue to avoid this type of terrain. The potential for dangerous avalanches remains a distinct possibility in this terrain.

CURRENT CONDITIONS

Skies cleared overnight and temperatures continued to drop and are now in the low to mid teens at many locations. Gusty winds during the day on Friday also decreased overnight into the light to moderate category from the northwest. A trace to an inch of new snow fell on Friday. The current snow surface is comprised of varying wind crusts, sun crusts and very few areas of soft settled snow.

RECENT ACTIVITY

An avalanche in Hidden Canyon near the Brighton Ski Resort was reported on Friday. It averaged 2 feet deep, 80 feet wide and ran a couple of hundred feet vertically. (DETAILS) The trigger was unknown but there was both wind loading occurring, which could have been the trigger, and reports of collapsing from skiers near the avalanche who could have triggered it remotely.

THREAT #1
WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

Our main concern remains triggering an avalanche that breaks into old faceted snow. As I see it, we are in a holding pattern right now where I have not seen any significant improvement with the weak layer over the last seven days. If you dig down you’ll note that the “hand hardness” (Info on hand hardness) tells us the faceted grains are still loose. Extended Column Tests (ECT how to video) are stubborn but still propagate nicely. The avalanche in Hidden Canyon confirms many of these manual snowpack observations. This all points out that human triggered avalanches are still likely in many of the upper elevations that are holding old weak snow.

THREAT #2
WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

Yesterday’s wind blew snow around pretty good but I didn’t find the fresh drifts exceptionally sensitive and noted mainly just isolated cracking underfoot. So, I’d say that the fresh drifts probably won’t pose much threat on their own but combine a fresh drift in an area with old weak snow and this is a much more serious situation. Keep in mind that the wind creates drifts on a wide variety of terrain features and aspects.

MOUNTAIN WEATHER

It’ll be a nice day in the mountains with clear skies and temperatures rebounding quite a bit with highs around 30 at 8000 feet and in the 20s along the ridges. Northwest winds should continue to slow even more during the day and may have just a slight easterly component to them. We’ll have quite mild weather again on Sunday.

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

If you trigger an avalanche in the backcountry - especially if you are adjacent to a ski area – please call the following teams to alert them to the slide and whether anyone is missing or not. Rescue teams can be exposed to significant hazard when responding to avalanches, and do not want to do so when unneeded. Thanks.

Salt Lake – Alta Central (801-742-2033)

Ogden – Snowbasin Patrol Dispatch (801-620-1017)

Provo – Sundance Patrol Dispatch (801-223-4150)

Dawn Patrol Forecast Hotline, updated by 05:30: 888-999-4019 option 8.

Daily observations are frequently posted by 10 pm each evening.

Subscribe to the daily avalanche advisory e-mail click HERE.

UDOT canyon closures UDOT at (801) 975-4838

You have the opportunity to participate in the creation of our own community avalanche advisory by submitting avalanche and snow observations. You can also call us at 801-524-5304 or 800-662-4140, or email by clicking HERE

Donate to your favorite non-profit – The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center. The UAC depends on contributions from users like you to support our work.

The information in this advisory is from the U.S. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.

We will update this forecast tomorrow morning. Thanks for calling.

This information does not apply to developed ski areas or highways where avalanche control is normally done.  This advisory is from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.

This advisory provided by the USDA Forest Service, in partnership with:

The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center, Utah Division of State Parks and Recreation, Utah Division of Emergency Management, Salt Lake County, Salt Lake Unified Fire Authority and the friends of the La Sal Avalanche Center. See our Sponsors Page for a complete list.