Provo Avalanche Advisory

Forecaster: Drew Hardesty

BOTTOM LINE

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


Danger Rose Tutorial

 

The danger is mostly LOW.  Don’t neglect common sense for the wet avalanche potential with daytime warming and avoid thin, rocky starting zones in the high windswept terrain – potential sweet spots for deep slab releases. 

CURRENT CONDITIONS

 

Not much (yawn) has changed in the past 24 hours….Mountain temperatures again soared to near 50 degrees and the southerly winds blew 20-25mph.  Riding conditions have improved somewhat as the surface snow slowly recrystallizes, softening crusts and old tracks alike. 

RECENT ACTIVITY

Only very minor wet avalanche activity made the blotter yesterday, despite tracks set in nearly every square inch of snow of the range. 

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

I’d imagine that the southerlies will again mitigate some of the heating today.  Much of the snow has baked in now for over a week on the sunnier aspects, and any activity will be the result of folks being too late in the game on the steeper sunny aspects. 

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

Looks like the ridge of high pressure will start to break down and we’ll see a series of storms impacting the state.  The weather models have been inconsistent at best, and potential snowfall numbers are projected to be high for the next week.  Confidence level is poor, but regardless, we’ll be primarily concerned with how the new snow may or may not bond to the pre-existing snow surfaces.  The surface hoar/rime crust combo and (thanks to the inversion) weakest recrystallized is mostly confined to the lower elevations.  Potential rain/snow line of 8000’, where the snow comes in warm, may be a good thing after all.

MOUNTAIN WEATHER

 

Temperatures will again skyrocket to near 50 degrees, and the southerly winds will remain gusty along the high ridgelines.  We’ll start to see some clouds building from the southwest later this afternoon, and perhaps some precipitation Thursday night.  While the models are in full oscillation-mode, the big picture remains the same: the ridge will be long gone by the weekend and we’ll see a series of disturbances moving through, providing much needed snowfall in the mountains.

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

WPG didn't get out yesterday.  Today, they'll fly in Silver, Days, Cardiff, Mineral, Grizzly, White Pine, AF, and Cascade.  Their operations planning page is here.

 

The last of the Brighton Discount tickets have been reduced to $45, with all proceeds going to the Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center.  Click HERE for details.

 

 

The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center is hosting a Level 2 avalanche class in February which is now open for registration by going to the Black Diamond retail store.  More information is HERE.  

 

 

Tickets are now available for the annual Backcountry Awareness Dinner on February 13th, with registration through the Snowbird Renaissance Center.

Beacon training parks are up and running!  There is one at Snowbasin, one on the Park City side at the top of Canyon’s gondola, one in Little Cottonwood near the Snowbird parking structure on the bypass road, and in Big Cottonwood a training  park is at the west end of Solitude's lower parking lot.

 

 

If you want to get this avalanche advisory e-mailed to you daily click HERE.

For a text only version, the link is on the left side bar, near the top.

UDOT highway avalanche control work info can be found by calling (801) 975-4838. Our statewide toll free line is 1-888-999-4019 (early morning, option 8).

The UAC depends on contributions from users like you to support our work.  To find out more about how you can support our efforts to continue providing the avalanche forecasting and education that you expect please visit our Friends page.

 

 

 

Your snow and avalanche observations help everyone in the backcountry community.  Please let us know what you're seeing by leaving a message at (801) 524-5304 or 1-800-662-4140, or email us at uac@utahavalanchecenter.org. (Fax 801-524-6301).

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.  This advisory does not apply to ski areas or highways where avalanche control is normally conducted.

Evelyn Lees will update this advisory by 7:30 tomorrow morning.

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.