Hello
and good morning, this is Toby Weed of the
Current Conditions: The National weather service has issued a Snow and Blowing Snow Advisory for the mountains surrounding
Avalanche Conditions:
A ski area in the Ogden Area triggered a few
medium sized hard wind slab avalanches with explosives yesterday including one
at lower elevations on a north facing slope.
Probably a good thing most people are avoiding obvious drifts and hard
slabs in the backcountry. The winds most certainly have been the major factor
since the weekend, and a few hard wind slabs probably built up in areas with
existing buried weak layers, (weak snow photos).
Overnight
much of the lingering and available soft snow was blown into the trees, hard
wind slabs continued to develop in fetch areas, and huge cornices built-out and
got huger. You should watch for and
avoid large cornices and obvious drifts or wind slabs on steep slopes. A few
inches of new snow later today might obscure these potential hard slab
traps. Possible clues include smooth,
chalky looking or stiffer feeling snow, hollow drum-like sounds, or shooting
cracks. Soft wind slabs consisting of
drifted new snow may well become an issue on some steep slopes later in the day
with significant deposits of new snow.
Bottom Line: Overall there’s
a MODERATE
danger in the backcountry, and triggered wind slab avalanches are possible on
slopes steeper than about 35 degrees.
Pockets with a CONSIDERABLE danger can be
found in exposed upper elevation terrain on steep slopes with significant
deposits of wind drifted snow. Heavy
snowfall and strong winds could cause a more widespread danger, with a few
long-running natural new snow avalanches possible tonight. Use good snow assessment and safe travel
techniques and avoid steep drifted slopes in the backcountry today.
Mountain Weather:
The National weather service has issued a Snow and Blowing Snow Advisory for the mountains of
The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center in Logan is presenting an
Avalanche Fundamentals, Level 1 Class (Certification), starting March 14,
with field sessions on the 15th, and 22nd. Please register in advance with the Friends
via e-mail or for more information contact [email protected].
Check out
the images page for photos of some of
this season’s avalanches.
Go to
the Avalanche Encyclopedia if you have any questions about terms I use in the advisory.
I'm very interested to
know what you're seeing out there. Please e-mail observations to me
at [email protected] or leave me a message at 755-3638, especially if you see or
trigger an avalanche in the backcountry. We keep all observations confidential.
This advisory will
expire in 24 hours from the posting time.
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.