Avalanche Advisory
| Advisory: Ogden Area Mountains | Issued by Evelyn Lees for January 6, 2013 - 6:46am |
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Above 8,500 ft.
7,000-8,500 ft.
Below 7,000 ft.
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bottom line Avalanche danger is MODERATE on steep, wind drifted slopes. These new drifts are most widespread on northwest through northeasterly facing slopes along ridgelines and in wind affected upper elevation terrain.
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special announcement Just a couple slots left for our Snowbird Freeride Avalanche Summit, an avalanche and alpine skills seminar focused on steep lines, remote locations, and filming, starting tonight. Jan 6-8 2013. Details and sign up here. UAC Forecaster Drew Hardesty will be giving a free talk in Park City Tuesday night, discussing how to matching terrain to snowpack conditions. More info HERE. There are still a few spots left for the Women's Backcountry 101. A Thursday evening talk, followed by a Saturday field day. For more information and to sign up, go HERE. There is also a Free Fireside Avalanche Chat at Black Diamond with Brett on Thursday night. |
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current conditions It’s a slightly different morning, with a few clouds and moderate southerly breezes across the higher terrain. The clouds and wind combo increased temperatures overnight, and currently, most stations are in the mid 20s to low 30s. The southerly winds are averaging 20 to 30 mph across the most exposed peaks, with gusts into the low 40s. Sun crusted slopes are more widespread after several warm days, but shady slopes still have soft, recrystallized powder. |
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recent activity Once again, both dry and damp loose sluffs were reported yesterday from the backcountry, with a few explosive released small wind slabs at the upper elevations in the resorts. |
Avalanche Problem 1over the next 24 hours
| type | aspect/elevation | characteristics |
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Above 8,500 ft.
7,000-8,500 ft.
Below 7,000 ft.
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description
The southerly winds will be moving snow along the higher ridgelines, creating shallow drifts, most widespread on northwest through northeasterly facing slopes. These new drifts are landing on weak, faceted snow, and may be surprisingly sensitive, even releasing remotely from a distance. The drifts could be touchier a short ways off the ridgelines, where the facets are larger and weaker. |
Avalanche Problem 2over the next 24 hours
| type | aspect/elevation | characteristics |
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Above 8,500 ft.
7,000-8,500 ft.
Below 7,000 ft.
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description
Outside of the wind affected terrain, there is a generally low avalanche danger. On wind sheltered slopes steeper than 35 degrees, watch for:
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weather The first of a pair of splitting storm systems will give Utah partly cloudy skies today and breezy conditions along the high ridges. The 20 to 30 mph southerly winds will slowly decrease this afternoon Temperatures remain warm – in the low 30s at 8000’, upper 20s along the high ridges. The second splitting storm system puts northern Utah under a northwest flow Monday night into Tuesday, with light snow and/or a rime event possible. A strong, but fast moving, cold front is still in the forecast for Thursday. |
| general annoucements Go to http://www.backcountry.com/utah-avalanche-center to get tickets from our partners at Park City, Beaver Mountain, Canyons, Sundance, and Wolf Mountain. All proceeds benefit the Utah Avalanche Center. If you trigger an avalanche in the backcountry - especially if you are adjacent to a ski area – please call the following teams to alert them to the slide and whether anyone is missing or not. Rescue teams can be exposed to significant hazard when responding to avalanches, and do not want to do so when unneeded. Thanks. Salt Lake and Park City – Alta Central (801-742-2033), Canyons Resort Dispatch (435-615-3322) Ogden – Snowbasin Patrol Dispatch (801-620-1017) Powder Mountain Ski Patrol Dispatch (801-745-3773 ex 123) Provo – Sundance Patrol Dispatch (801-223-4150) Dawn Patrol Forecast Hotline, updated by 05:30: 888-999-4019 option 8. Twitter Updates for your mobile phone - DETAILS Daily observations are frequently posted by 10 pm each evening. Subscribe to the daily avalanche advisory e-mail click HERE. UDOT canyon closures UDOT at (801) 975-4838 Wasatch Powderbird Guides does daily updates about where they'll be operating on this blog http://powderbird.blogspot.com/ . Remember your information can save lives. If you see anything we should know about, please participate in the creation of our own community avalanche advisory bysubmitting snow and avalanche conditions. You can also call us at 801-524-5304 or 800-662-4140, or email by clicking HERE Donate to your favorite non-profit –The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center. The UAC depends on contributions from users like you to support our work. For a print version of this advisory click HERE. This advisory is produced by the U.S. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. It describes only general avalanche conditions and local variations always exist. Specific terrain and route finding decisions should always be based on skills learned in a field-based avalanche class. |