Hello
and good morning, this is Toby Weed of the
Current Conditions: You
can expect cooler temperatures and increasing clouds in the backcountry
today. Clouds will start to roll in this
morning and some snowfall is likely later this afternoon as a weak Pacific
weather system and the leading edge of a moisture plume moves into the area. We could pick up an inch or so today and a
few more overnight, but more substantial snowfall will hold off until
tomorrow. The fresh snow will come in on
a wide variety of old snow surfaces and some heavily tracked slopes. Yesterday in untracked terrain we found
fairly nice fast re-crystallized powder-like snow on shady mid and upper
elevation slopes, and a variety of moist snow and refreezing crusts in more sunny
areas. Currently at the Campbell
Scientific weather station at 9400’ on
Avalanche Conditions: Recent
local avalanche activity consisted of loose wet avalanches caused by warming
and the resulting saturation of surface snow, (photo).
I noticed more such activity yesterday
on steep shady low elevation slopes near the mouth of
Although
most steep slopes in the region appear stable, you might still find a few
isolated fresh or old wind slabs near ridge lines at upper elevations. Continue to treat huge cornices with respect,
and watch for potential significant loose re-crystallized snow sluffing on
steep shaded slopes. Cooler temperatures
and increasing cloud-cover should keep wet activity to a minimum today but
greenhousing may play a role in heating some slopes. So, as usual, retreat if
the snow on the slope you’re on gets moist or saturated.
Bottom Line: There’s a LOW danger today in the backcountry, and avalanches are generally
unlikely. You should still use good snow
assessment and safe travel techniques to minimize your risk.
Mountain Weather: A weak Pacific weather system will affect the region today, bringing
cooler temperatures, increasing clouds, and a little snow. A few more inches of
accumulation is possible overnight, but the real action will hold off until
tomorrow when we’re likely to see more significant snowfall under a moist
westerly flow. At this point it looks
like about an inch of water or around10 inches of somewhat heavy snow. Winds
will be the wildcard and don’t look like they’ll be too strong…The action
should move off to our south for the coming weekend.
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.