25th Annual Black Diamond Fall Fundraising Party
Thursday, September 13; 6:00-10:00 PM; Black Diamond Parking Lot
25th Annual Black Diamond Fall Fundraising Party
Thursday, September 13; 6:00-10:00 PM; Black Diamond Parking Lot
Advisory: Provo Area Mountains | Issued by Drew Hardesty for Sunday - January 29, 2017 - 6:47am |
---|
special announcement Do you buy groceries at Smiths? Register your Smith’s rewards card with their Community Rewards program, and they will donate to the Utah Avalanche Center whenever you make a purchase. It's easy, only takes a minute, and doesn't cost you anything. Details |
current conditions Skies are clear. Mountain temperatures are in the mid to upper 20s. Winds remain out of the north, blowing 15-20mph with gusts to 25. Sun and wind damage exists on the sunny aspects and in the open, exposed terrain, but you'll still find soft settled powder in the mid and low elevation sheltered glades. With over 90-120" on the ground at the mid and upper elevations, the Provo snowpack sits at 150-200% of normal. Coverage and conditions are some of the best in years. |
recent activity We didn't hear of any avalanche activity in the Provo mountains yesterday; however we have fewer people out and about prodding the snow and checking for instability. |
type | aspect/elevation | characteristics |
---|
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
|
description
We need more data points, but those traveling in the Provo mountains have not found these avalanches to be as reactive as in the mountains to the north. Still, due to the unpredictability and dangerous character of this structure, caution is warranted on steep slopes, particularly at the mid and low elevations. Added info from SLC below- Evidence based information: at least eight human triggered persistent slabs reported since Tuesday. Subtle to thunderous whoomphs and collapses noted as the storm snow collapses the weak surface hoar and facets that were not destroyed prior to last week's storm. Many of these triggered at a distance, fracturing out above the skier, or just adjacent to other tracks on the slope. The weakest and most suspect terrain is at the mid and low elevations on many aspects, but predominantly - but not all - on north to southeast facing slopes. |
type | aspect/elevation | characteristics |
---|
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
|
description
There is plenty of snow available for transport and wind drifts should be considered suspect and avoided in steep upper elevation terrain. Drifts often appear rounded, scalloped, or otherwise textured and form in the lee of terrain features such as rocky outcrops and sub-ridges. These drifts may be more sensitive than usual as some of them may be siting on small surface hoar or granular faceted snow formed Thursday night. |
type | aspect/elevation | characteristics |
---|
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
|
description
Cold, dry snow under the heat lamp and with mountain temps rising into the mid 20s at 10,000' will conspire to dampen the snow surfaces on the steep sunlit slopes. With prolonged dampening, both natural and especially human triggered wet avalanches will be likely with daytime warming. Please choose terrain to avoid the steep sun-drenched slopes by midday - particularly those above roads and infrastructure. The danger may rise toward Considerable with extended warming.... |
weather Clear skies, moderate though gusty northerly winds, and temps rising to near freezing at 8500' today. High pressure builds throughout the region over the next few days. Storms passing by to the north of us will attempt to flatten the ridge, but we'll only see clouds and increased west to northwest winds through mid-week. Longer range models offer some hope for something next weekend. |
general announcements
|