The Utah Avalanche Center is holding a fund raising auction of donated gear to support forecasting and education. We have Black Diamond and Surface Skis, several OR jackets, a BCA airbag pack, and some Scarpa AT boots. Go to ebay and search for "Utah Avalanche Center” or click HERE.

We also still have discount lift tickets for Alta, Snowbird, Brian Head, Sundance, and Wolf Mountain. All proceeds go towards avalanche forecasting and education.

The avalanche danger remains Moderate with pockets of Considerable Danger for a person or smaller avalanche triggering a deep slab avalanche breaking near the ground on northwest through north through easterly facing slopes at the upper elevations. Conservative decision making and avoiding steep, upper elevation terrain is the best way to avoid being caught in a dangerous slide.

As the snow adds up, the avalanche danger may rise to MODERATE for triggering a shallower slide in the new snow or that releases on the faceted weak layer in the upper snow pack, especially on wind drifted slopes.

A small, but very welcome, storm is just getting going in the northern Utah mountains, with 1 to 3” of new snow as of 6 am. The southerly winds are very light at the moment, averaging less than 15 mph. Temperatures have cooled into the 20s, and the rain/snowline has dropped below 6,000’.

One avalanche was reported yesterday on west facing Y-Mountain in the Provo area mountains – probably a wet, loose natural triggered by afternoon sun and heating.

Light to moderate snowfall should continue for most of the day, with the heaviest snowfall rates expected late morning through this afternoon. 3 to 6 inches of snow are possible today south of I-80, with slightly less to the north. The Provo area mountains may be the favored location today. Temperatures will remain in the mid to upper 20s today, and the southwesterly winds will pick up into the 10 to 15 mph range, with the highest ridges averaging up to 20 mph. Lingering snow showers tonight could add another few inches to the snow totals. Lows will drop into the teens at 8,000' to near 10 at 10,000'. Winds will shift to the northwest tonight, and are forecast to remain light, in the 10 to 20 mph range. After a brief break Sunday night and Monday, another storm will bring statewide snow to the mountains around Tuesday.

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.

Twitter Updates for your mobile phone http://utahavalanchecenter.org/twitter)

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

Wasatch Powderbird Guides does daily updates about where they'll be operating on this blog http://powderbird.blogspot.com/ .

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

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