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 Evelyn Lees for Sunday - February 12, 2017 - 6:52am |
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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. |
current conditions It’s a crisp, cool morning with clear skies and temperatures are mostly in the teens in the Provo area mountains. Winds are from a northeasterly direction, and averaging around 25 mph. About 8" of snow fell after the rain in the low to mid elevations around Provo Canyon, and there were reports of about 16" of snow in the American Fork drainage. |
recent activity Yesterday, there were 5 new snow soft slabs triggered in the backcountry in the Cottonwoods, all above about 9900’ on east to northeasterly facing slopes. They were long running, and two of them propagated widely, up to 250’. There was similar activity from resort and highway control work in the Cottonwoods, which received the most snow. Explosives, artillery and ski cuts released larger new snow slides (D1 to D2), and an isolated natural avalanche cycle occurred at the peak of the storm in Little Cottonwood. A different sort of slide, failing on wet grains, was triggered early afternoon on a southeast facing slope at 9200’. Left: East couloir, Kessler C Brown photo. Note how the slide continued to break out as it moved down slope, entraining snow. Right: Scott Hill, AT photo
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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
Even with a decent overnight refreeze and a cold start to the morning, the direct sun will be strong today, heating the new snow. Expect to easily trigger wet sluffs on steep sunny slopes as the snow becomes damp - first on east then south then west. Roller balls and pinwheels are a first sign of heating. I expect wet loose sluffs to be triggered on the mid and low elevation shady, northerly facing slopes, too, because the buried old snow is still damp. Dense wet snow can quickly catch you and push you around, and even small steep terrain features such as road and creek banks can pile up enough debris to bury a person. |
type | aspect/elevation | characteristics |
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LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
|
description
Keep a sharp eye on the wind speeds where you are today. The winds are forecast to be light today. But even a small uptick in the wind speed can start to drift snow. Look for and avoid the rounded wind drifts at both the mid and upper elevations. the drifts will be most widespread along the upper elevation ridge lines on a variety of aspects, including westerly. If you are heading to the highest peaks of the range today, you will find wind slabs. The new storm snow could still be sensitive today on steep upper elevation slopes. These slides have been long running and mostly on north through easterly facing slopes. Cornices are still an issue. Both old and new cornices are sensitive, break back further than you would expect, and a cornice could trigger a new snow slide on the slope below. |
weather A beautiful day with clear, sunny skies – if only it wasn’t going to be so warm. Temperatures will rise to near 40 at 8000’ and into the upper 20s at 10,000’. The easterly winds should remain light, averaging less than 15 mph. High pressure will remain over the area through Thursday, with unseasonably warm temperatures once again by midweek. An active weather pattern with a series of storms should resume around Friday. |
general announcements
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