In partnership with: The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Forecast Center, Utah Department of Public Safety Division of Comprehensive Emergency Management, Salt Lake County, and Utah State Parks
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Thursday,
December 23, 2004
Good morning, this is Evelyn
Lees with the
Registration for
the Friends of the
Free Beacon Rescue
Training Centers are now open at Snowbird and the Canyons. For more information go to
wasatchbackcountryrescue.org.
Current Conditions:
A dry, cold arctic air mass
is moving into northern
Light snow ahead of the front
added another 2 to 4” of 4% fluff overnight, and 2 day totals are in the 3 to 7”
range. Most aspects have “dust on crust”,
with the best riding and turning conditions on lower angle slopes or on wind sheltered
shady slopes that have a base of smoother, softer snow.
Avalanche Conditions:
Beneath the new snow are widespread
hard and icy crusts. Today, the new snow
will sluff easily on steep slopes and I expect the winds to whip up some shallow,
soft drifts along the higher ridges. Once
the snow starts to move, it will entrain more snow and slides could run further
and faster than expected due to hard bed surfaces. These slides will have more surprise than punch. Finally, there may still be an isolated place
where a person could trigger a deeper slab avalanche, probably outside the Tri Canyons,
on a steep, shallow, rocky slope.
Bottom Line (SLC,
The avalanche danger is LOW in most areas. The
danger is MODERATE on steep slopes
with recent deposits of wind drifted snow, and there are isolated areas of MODERATE danger on steep north through east
facing slopes, especially in thin snowpack areas.
Mountain Weather:
A cold, northerly flow will
be over the area through tonight. Today will
be mostly sunny, with the northerly winds increasing this afternoon into the 25
to 35 mph range. Temperatures will
remain in the single digits at 8,000’ and below zero at 10,000’. On Friday, temperatures will warm rapidly,
into the teens at 10,000’ and to near 30 at 8,000’. The rest of the Christmas weekend will be mostly
sunny, dry and warmer. A change to a stormier
pattern is expected for the last week of the year, though the exact timing of
events is very uncertain. I’ll have our mountain weather forecast
out by about noon.
Yesterday Wasatch Powderbird
Guides flew in Silver Fork, and today they will be in Silver, Days,
We do an early morning update
around 6am each day on the 364-1591 line.
To report backcountry snow
and avalanche conditions, especially if you observe or trigger an avalanche,
call (801) 524-5304 or 1-800-662-4140, or email to [email protected] or fax to
801-524-6301. The information in this
advisory is from the U.S. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its
content. This advisory describes general
avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.
Brett Kobernik will update this advisory by 7:30 on
Thursday morning.
Thanks for calling!
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For an explanation of
avalanche danger ratings: