Wasatch
Cache National Forest
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Avalanche advisory
Monday,
FEBRUARY 25, 2002 7:30 AM
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Good morning, this is Drew
Hardesty with the
Current Conditions:
I’ve been aching to say if
for a while, but it appears Old Man Winter is back, and boy is he angry. Must be something
to do with the Olympics leaving town. The
winds are the big story over night and this morning, with most ridgetop weather stations showing hourly averages in the 30’s
and 40’s out of the west. One of the
most exposed sites had hourly averages in the 50’s for a few hours this morning,
with gusts near 90. Overnight snowfall
amounts are in the 2-4” range depending on location, and it was still lightly
snowing as of 6 this morning. Storm snow totals since yesterday morning are about
8” in the upper Cottonwoods, and about 5-6” in the
Snow surface conditions will
consist of wind scoured areas to stout wind drifted areas to decent soft powder
where sheltered.
Avalanche Conditions:
Yesterday’s
new snow and winds created widespread shallow sensitive wind drifts,
that responded easily to slope cuts. Some natural activity from wind loading was
reported as well in the upper Wolverine/Tuscarora
area. Most were about 6” deep running in
the new snow, with a few slope cuts in drifts releasing about a foot deep. It’s likely that with the few more inches
overnight and continued strong winds, some natural activity has continued to
take place early this morning, with drifts still building. While today’s wind drifts may be more
stubborn to trigger, they could break deeper and wider, resulting in more
dangerous avalanches. Strong winds will
also result in unusual loading patterns.
More sensitive winddrifts may be farther off
the ridgelines than expected. Shooting
cracks and audible “whumphs” are immediate signs of
instability.
An
avalanche accident occurred in the
There
remains an isolated deep slab problem, where a person could trigger a slide
today that would step down into the more deeply buried faceted snow. This would be most likely in a thinner
snowpack area, including slopes that have slid one or more times this year,
upper elevation wind scoured areas, or steep rocky areas.
Bottom Line:
The
danger of human triggered avalanches is MODERATE bordering on CONSIDERABLE
on slopes steeper than about 35 degrees with recent or old wind drifts. Human triggered avalanches will be possible. The danger is also MODERATE on all slopes where
slabs are underlain by weak, faceted snow.
(
These
areas have had a thin snowpack most of the winter, and the sugary weak snow is
more widespread. The danger of human
triggered avalanches is more widespread in the Provo and Western Uinta
Mountains, especially where wind loaded.
(
Same
as
Mountain Weather:
Light showers will taper off
by early morning, giving way to partly cloudy skies. Winds will remain strong
out of the west northwest, with ridgetop averages
over 30mph. By afternoon, the winds
should back off somewhat, but still be enough to push some snow around. 8000’ highs will be in the high teens, with
10,000’ temperatures in the single digits.
A cool northwesterly flow will persist over northern
General Information:
To
report backcountry snow and avalanche conditions, especially if you observe or
trigger an avalanche, you can leave a message at (801) 524-5304 or
1-800-662-4140. Or you can e-mail an observation
to uacobs@avalanche .org, or you can fax an
observation to 801-524-6301.
If
the winds cooperate, the Wasatch Powderbird Guides will be flying in the American
Fork drainage today.
For
more detailed mountain weather and avalanche information, your can call
801-364-1591, which we’ll try to have updated by around
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.
I
will update this advisory by
Thanks for calling!
________________________________________________________________________
For
more detailed weather information go to our Mountain Weather Advisory
National
Weather Service - Salt Lake City - Snow.
For an explanation of
avalanche danger ratings: