BIG COTTONWOOD CANYON, Utah — The Utah Avalanche Center has issued a High Danger warning for all of Utah on Friday.
Travel in avalanche prone areas is discouraged.
The UAC has issued an avalanche warning with a High avalanche danger statewide! Travel in avalanche terrain is not recommended. Visit https://t.co/xRuSiGkeC7 for the latest updates. pic.twitter.com/G2PK318GAz
— UtahAvalancheCenter (@UACwasatch) December 31, 2021
The high avalanche danger ratings for Friday include the areas of : Logan, Ogden, Salt Lake City, Uintas, Provo, Skyline, Moab and the southwest.
#RoadUpdate 👋 LCC travelers, ❄️ showers continue thru the day with an additional 4-8" road snow possible in upper canyon, 2-4" lower canyon. @TravelWiseUtah folks, consider this your PM red snake 🐍 advance notice (we get caught too). Be prepared for ALL conditions.🚨#SR210 pic.twitter.com/CJZHTW8TfV
— UDOT Cottonwood Canyons (@UDOTcottonwoods) December 31, 2021
The Avalanche Center also reported that avalanches this morning in Little Cottonwood Canyon are running near historic maximum distances.
Craig Gordon with the Utah avalanche center wants everyone to know there is real, potential danger out there, especially in the back country.
This new snow from the past few storms is built on an unstable layer and Gordon says they’re seeing massive snow slides, fortunately most of them triggered by planned, avalanche control work. Therefore, everyone needs to exercise patience and control.
“A Super, safe place to be is inside the ski resort boundaries. Remember, once you step outside that, you are in the back country," said Gordon. And we are hearing reports of explosive avalanche mitigation work that is producing very large, long running, extremely dangerous avalanches. That is mother nature‘s, big, red flag that we have got to give that snowpack some time to adjust."
And if you are venturing into the back country make sure you have your avalanche rescue gear including transceivers, shovels and probes. Also avoidance. Because if something seems and feels a little sketchy, it probably is.
For more information and the latest avalanche risks for Utah, go here.
