Progression of danger roses and overall hazard rating from 12/29 - 1/4. (Click on the day of the week for the archived forecast for that day.) Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Considerable Considerable Considerable Considerable Moderate Moderate Moderate Friday December 29: A skier-triggered avalanche occurred in Dry Fork. This avalanche was 2.5' deep and 100' wide, running 400' vertical. It was a persistent slab avalanche, failingin …

In this podcast, we chat with Professor Powder, Jim Steenburgh.Jim is a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Utah. An avid backcountry skier and creator of the popular blog Wasatch Weather Weenies, he is a leading authority on mountain weather and snowstorms and author of the book Secrets of the Greatest Snow on Earth. Discussed in the podcast: The weather triangle of precipitation, wind, and temperature/solar radiation; weather is the architect of the snowpack;seasonal variations in weather patterns;local effects that impact Wasatch winter …

Attach File: December-Newsletter.pdf

Week in Review (12/22 - 12/28) Progression of danger roses and overall hazard rating from 12/22 - 12/28. (Click on the day of the week for the archived forecast for that day.) Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Moderate Considerable Considerable HIGH HIGH Considerable Considerable Summary: This past week was punctuated by snow and wind which quickly overloaded the weak faceted snow that formed early this season, creating very hazardous …

Week in Review - December 16 - 22, 2017 Before proceeding with the week in review, it is first worth quickly reviewing the season thus far. This Autumn was characterized by a handful of small storms sandwiched between extended periods of high pressure with cold, clear weather that created a very weak and shallow snowpack comprising loose, sugary (“faceted”) crystals. This is a very dangerous setup for avalanches once there is enough of a load on top. In the central Wasatch there is currently about 2-3' in upper elevation shady aspects. Southerly aspects were …

Onthe inaugural episode of the Utah Avalanche Center podcast, UAC forecaster Drew Hardesty and Alta Snow Safety Director Dave Richardsrevisit the fateful events of November 13, 2011, the Day of Madness in Little Cottonwood Canyon. It was an early-season powder day in the Wasatch before the ski resorts had opened, and people's lust for epic snowencountered the dangerous realities of Considerable avalanche danger. Unfortunately, the day ended in tragedy. Eighteen unintentionalavalanches were triggered.Six people were caught in separate avalanches. A yard-sale worth …

The Alta Guard station in upper Little Cottonwood Canyon has snow records from November through April since the 1944/1945 winter.The numbers can be foundhere. Average annual snowfall is 497". Since 1944/1945, the Alta Guard has recorded 11 winters whenthe total snowfall from November and December did not crest the 100" mark. 1976/1977 easily stands out as the leanest early winter witha grand total of 30.5". It's not lost on the Utah powder hounds that three of those sub-par early seasons have occurred since the winter of 2009/2010. We just ticked off a fourth. This …