Ad
The National Forest Service Logo
icon-add Observation
Forecasts
Logan Ogden Salt Lake Provo Uintas Skyline Moab Abajos Weather Archives How to read the forecast
Observations & Avalanches
Submit Observation NEW - Observations Explorer All Observations Avalanches Fatalities Place Names Map Archives
Education
Avalanche Awareness Develop Skills On-Snow Courses Resources and Tutorials
Events
Store
About
Contact Who we are Core Values Staff Board of Directors Past Forecasters Sponsors Annual Reports Sign In
Blog
icon-add Observation
Donate / Join

Observation: Grizzly Gulch

Observation Date
3/15/2018
Observer Name
Luke
Region
Salt Lake » Little Cottonwood Canyon » Grizzly Gulch
Location Name or Route
Grizzly Gulch
Weather
Sky
Broken
Precipitation
Light Snowfall
Wind Direction
Northeast
Wind Speed
Calm
Weather Comments
I caught the break between storm waves, snow coming down moderately when I headed up, broken sky while touring, more clouds coming up canyon on the way down.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
6"
New Snow Density
Medium
Snow Surface Conditions
Dense Loose
Snow Characteristics Comments
Sounds like BCC was hit by more snow, not unexpectedly coming up from the South. Still should help out over the next few days to patch everything up from the the heat. Right side up snow that was dense for the Wasatch but not too dense.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Recent Avalanches
Heavy Snowfall
Rapid Warming
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
I just wanted to stretch the legs and see how the new snow would bond to the heat crusted surface, how dense the new snow came in, and how much water was percolating down. Did a quick shovel shear facing SW because I didn't have too much time, but I don't know specifically what any other tests would have told me much more. Failed with quite a bit of force at 105 cm and 80 cm, both noticeable heat crust layers in the pictures below. The lower one sheared really clean, upper not as much. Snow between and below these two layers was quite wet even at 9000' and above.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Wet Snow
Trend
Decreasing Danger
Problem #1 Comments
Only decreasing in the areas that all the precip fell as snow/wintery mix, lower elevations will still be suspect. I heard firsthand that it was raining over the I 80 pass last afternoon night and it was still raining above the U of U this afternoon although it snowed in the valley in the morning. PC ridgeline, Millcreek, lower elevations will have same or increasing danger of wet slabs.
Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
New Snow
Trend
Increasing Danger
Problem #2 Comments
The more snow have the more likely it will be to fail on either of those layers, but more likely they top one (at around 105cm). With and being warm today and the last few weeks it could round out the snow by that interface or just create a slab on top of it. Hard to say right now, it felt like the new snow was bonding pretty well to the crust layer.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Considerable