Observation Date
4/27/2016
Observer Name
T Diegel
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Alta Ski Area
Location Name or Route
Alta resort and perimeter
Weather
Sky
Scattered
Weather Comments
15" of new on a variety of surfaces, mid-storm density changes,, wind loading yesterday, more avalanches the last couple of days than almost any time in the season, lots of people out....whither no avy forecast? What does it take to incentivize for a forecast?
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
15"
New Snow Density
Medium
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Dense Loose
Snow Characteristics Comments
this seemed to be a complex storm with early storm snow, graupel, wind, and high PI's both with and without wind, and then heating today. Lots of change = plenty of opps for avalanches.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Recent Avalanches
Red Flags Comments
from the Greeley area of Alta we probably saw a dozen avalanches that ran today? All aspects. Pulled out a couple of pretty good slabs on top of Main Days yesterday then added another foot of snow through the rest of the day/overnight, so not surprised there was a lot of action today.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
New Snow
Trend
Decreasing Danger
Problem #1 Comments
There seemed to be a bit of a mid-storm density change that enabled the top 8+ inches to run easily. And then the resulting bed wasn't very "bed-like", because the interface was pretty soft. But the stuff we saw ran fast and surprisingly far. The debris "piles" were spread over a pretty long distance so burials unlikely, but these could take you for a ride easily and doing so in unforgiving terrain could be bad. And the biggest slides we saw were naturals in the East Greeley area that ran full track. Hence the "high" rating.
Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
Wet Snow
Trend
Decreasing Danger
Problem #2 Comments
the sun came out en force late morning and it was easy to imagine nearly all aspects except north to get even more active, maybe taking out the whole 15" storm snow down to the old base layer, but I think the clouds regathered in the afternoon? (greehnousing?)
Comments
We were surprised to see that people had skinned past one of the biggest slides in the area on Baldy Shoulder on their way up to ski Baldy Chute, but the latter seemed well-behaved. This is interesting stuff because these slides felt very "manageable" since they weren't depositing big, but being caught would result in a swift ride? With more snow in the forecast, the top of the 'pack will get a bit more complex?
Today's Observed Danger Rating
High
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate
