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 Greg Gagne for Friday - February 10, 2017 - 7:13am |
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special announcement Wasatch Backcountry Skiing Weather: Friends of the UAC President Steve Achelis has done it again: check out his one-stop-shop page here. Know-Before-You-Go (KBYG) tonight at 6:30 PM at Mad Dog Cyclery in Orem. Details can be found here. |
current conditions Strong winds and very warm temperatures highlight the current weather conditions this morning. Winds are out of the south and southwest and have been strong for at least the past 24 hours, with gusts in the 40’s mph at the mid elevations, and 50’s - 60’s mph at the upper elevations. A few stations reported overnight gusts of 70 mph or more. Most mountain stations have been well above freezing for the past 36-48 hours. Temperatures in the Provo mountains currently range through the 40’s F. Below is the 7 am update for Arrowhead Divide at 8200'
No precipitation recorded overnight. Week in Review 4-6” of snowfall fell in the Cottonwoods and Park City mountains from Thursday Feb 2 through Saturday Feb 4, with some favored locations along the Park City ridgeline receiving upwards of 8”. Persistent winds also resulted in isolated human-triggered wind slabs releasing in upper elevations over the weekend. Monday marked the beginning of a period of warm and very windy conditions with heavy, wet snowfall and a rain/snow line reaching 8000'. Snow and water totals by Wednesday included:
Temperatures warmed significantly beginning on Wednesday, with overnight lows only dropping to the mid 30's F. A few natural avalanches were reported on Wednesday from cornice falls. On Thursday, the base of Alta reached 50 F, with many mid and upper elevations rising into the mid 40's F with increasing winds. |
recent activity Avalanche activity reported from Thursday were wet loose slides at the low elevations in Little Cottonwood Canyon in the Salt Lake mountains. This included a wet natural at the lower elevations in Coalpit Gulch, as well as a loose wet slide that overran the Great White Icicle ice climbing route. (Although the warm temperatures should currently classify it as a "dry-tooling" route.) Shockingly few reports from the backcountry on Thursday. For the few that ventured out, reports highlighted damp snow as well as large pinwheels and rollerballs at the low and mid elevations. I found surprisingly decent ski and travel conditions above 10,000’, although sustained strong winds overnight at the upper elevations have likely changed that scenario. |
type | aspect/elevation | characteristics |
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LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
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description
I can't believe we are talking about a saturating, rain-on-snow event in early February. Unusual weather breeds unusual avalanches. The snowpack hasn't cooled in nearly 48 hours, and rain (possibly heavy at times) to 9000' will elevate avalanche concerns at the low and mid elevations with natural wet avalanches possible. Travel is not recommended on or underneath any steep slopes at the low and mid elevations today. ROOF AVALANCHES continue to be a significant concern. Avoid being in the "runout zones" below a pitched roof. GLIDE releases should be on your radar in the standard glide avalanche regions of Broads Fork, Stairs Gulch, and localized areas of Mill B south. Full-depth glide releases are notoriously unpredicatable, but rain and melt-water percolating down onto the smooth underlying rock slabs below is a classic contributing factor. |
type | aspect/elevation | characteristics |
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LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
|
description
Strong winds from the south and southwest will drift any new snow and create sensitive wind drifts at the upper elevations. Although I am not expecting these drifts to be large, such strong winds can deposit snow on all aspects and well down off of ridgelines. There are very large cornices adorning our mid and upper elevation ridgelines. Some of these cornices have released naturally, or have released with minimal human provocation. On Wednesday a skier unintentionally collapsed a large cornice fall along the Patsy Marley ridgeline in the Salt Lake mountains. Natural or human-triggered cornice falls may not only trigger an avalanche, but they also will involve very large blocks of snow. (Think of it like tumbling down a slope along with a fleet of small delivery trucks.) Stay well back from the edges when traveling along corniced ridgelines. |
weather Rain at the low and mid elevations, and 2-5” of snow possible at the upper elevations. Temperatures will remain warm today at the low and mid elevations, remaining in the 40’s F. Above 10000’ temperatures should cool as the day progresses, dropping to the upper 20’s F by sunset. A much-needed cold front arrives this evening as the flow switches to the northwest and continued snowfall overnight. |
general announcements
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