Feed: Utah Avalanche Center - Salt Lake - AggScore: 79.0

Special announcement:

We will issue morning forecasts for the next few days, as the wind and snow are making avalanche conditions slightly more interesting. Also check out the web site updates, including the Current Conditions and Education tabs at the top of the page.

Bottom line:

Today, there are pockets of MODERATE avalanche danger on steep slopes for shallow, hard wind drifts that could crack out beneath the weight of a person. These drifts, or slabs, will be found on both mid and upper elevation shady slopes with snow cover. Terrain not affected by the wind has a LOW danger.

Current conditions:

A week of sun and high pressure once again melted the southeast through westerly facing slopes back down to dirt, leaving the limited options for turning and riding unchanged - upper elevation(above about 9,500’), northwest through easterly facing slopes. Unfortunately, most snow surfaces are very wind damaged; sporting a variety of breakable crusts, and rock evasion skills are still prized due to the very shallow snowpack.

For the past 20 hours, mid and upper elevation winds have been from the southeast to southwest, averaging 20 mph, with gusts in the 40’s. Speeds across many of the exposed ridge crests averaged 35 mph, with gusts to 80 mph. With the cold front already past, wind speeds are decreasing, and temperatures are falling, currently in the upper teens to low 30’s.