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Observation: Brighton Perimeter

Observation Date
2/22/2014
Observer Name
Brackelsberg / Paradis
Region
Salt Lake » Big Cottonwood Canyon » Brighton Perimeter
Location Name or Route
Snake Creek
Weather
Sky
Broken
Wind Direction
Northwest
Wind Speed
Moderate
Weather Comments
The morning was overcast with snowfall. By afternoon the sky had cleared a little bit. The wind was blowing pretty hard all day and was transporting a lot of snow.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Wind Loading
Rapid Warming
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
There was lots of snow being transported along the ridgelines, but wind loading seemed to be very localized and not widespread. We felt this was possibly due to how light the snow was. There were only a few instances of sun, but it was enough to quickly get the south aspects slushy. We did not dig any pits, but with a pole, you could still poke down into the faceted layers. The layers above this were very compact. It definitely seemed like a low probability and high consequence layer. Forecaster Comments: Noted Wasatch SkiMo/Powderkeg organizers doing their due diligence in assessing snow conditions prior to their race in the coming days ahead - Hardesty
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Increasing Danger
Problem #1 Comments

While most areas did not seem to have wind slabs forming, we were able to ski cut a small 2-3" wind slab off of Pioneer Ridge on a Northeast aspect. This ran most of the length of the slope and only entrained a small amount of the new snow. This ran as a manageable loose slough.

The winds blew hard on the ridge lines all day.

Numerous cornice drops did not produce any results (see photo).

If the winds continue all night, I would expect an increasing wind slab danger on Sunday.

Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Same
Problem #2 Comments

Same story, new day. This was consistent to what has been reported the last several days.

I feel this will decrease with out next storm as these week layers get buried further down.

Comments

We dropped numerous cornices on a northeast ridgeline. None produced any results. The photo shows the standard result.

Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate
Coordinates