The Utah Avalanche Center reports danger is considerable in most of the Beehive State’s mountains. Forecaster Nikki Champion said there are two reasons for the level of danger: a persistent weak layer and wind-drifted snow.
“We have four distinct weak layers in the backcountry right now that's on most aspects facing southwest all the way through Southeast. Any of these avalanches may fail on any of these aspects,” she said. “So it's not time to try to thread the needle, hoping to find the one steep slope that won't slide.”
She said elevated winds Tuesday night and Wednesday have formed sensitive wind drifts on all aspects at mid and upper elevations. That means avalanche danger will remain considerable on mid and upper-elevation slopes.
Champion said there was a close call in the backcountry Tuesday near Lackawaxen Lake. A snowboarder triggered an avalanche and was carried around 175 feet. While there were no injuries, Champion said over 70 avalanches have been reported to the avalanche center over the last 10 days. Over half were human-triggered.
“Until the snowpack simplifies, we highly recommend staying out of avalanche terrain altogether,” she said.
A small storm rolling into Utah could complicate the avalanche situation further. ABC4 Meteorologist Cedric Haynes said a wave of moisture will move in Wednesday night.
“That's when we're going to see the main part of the storm coming in, and that's going to bring us a period of moderate to heavy snow there for both Park City and the Heber Valley,” he said.
Snow will continue into Thursday morning. Haynes said the Heber Valley could see up to three inches of snow and the Park City area will likely see four to five inches.
