In partnership with: The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Forecast Center, Utah Department of
Public Safety Division of Comprehensive Emergency Management, Salt Lake County,
and Utah State Parks
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Good afternoon, this is
Evelyn Lees with the
The annual backcountry gear
swap will be at REI this Saturday, November 9th ,
starting at
We won’t have all our phone
lines hooked up until next week, so you may find it easier to access this
advisory on the internet.
Current Conditions:
Light snow has begun to fall
at the higher elevations and temperatures are starting to drop as the first in a
series of disturbances reaches the Wasatch mountains. The strong southerly winds are averaging 20 to
30 mph along the ridges, with gusts 50 to 70 mph.
Avalanche Conditions:
The avalanche danger will be on
the rise Friday through the weekend. Once
there is enough snow to ski or board, then there is enough snow to slide, even on
your first day of the season. To prove
it,
The October storms have given
the shady, upper elevation slopes a thin snowpack. Most of this old snow has weakened into sugary
facets, and is covered in places with shallow wind slabs. With the current winds, these slabs are
increasing in depth and area, and are already sensitive to the weight of a
person on steep slopes. Additional snow and winds this weekend will
increase the avalanche danger, with slides breaking both with in the new snow
and into the old sugary snow.
Remember, avalanche control work
is not being done at the closed ski areas, and these slopes and runs must be
treated as backcountry. Also, coverage will be poor for days to come, so use
caution to avoid hitting hidden objects.
Bottom Line:
The avalanche danger today is
confined to areas with old October snow, which are shady
slopes above about 9,000’. In these
areas the danger is MODERATE on steep wind drifted slopes. Out of wind affected terrain and on lower
angle slopes, the danger is LOW. Be
alert to increasing avalanche danger throughout the weekend.
Mountain Weather:
A series of fast moving
disturbances should bring significant snow to the northern
General Information:
To report backcountry snow
and avalanche conditions, especially if you observe or trigger an avalanche,
call (801) 524-5304 or 1-800-662-4140. 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.
We have several free
avalanche awareness talks coming up – the first two are Tuesday, November 12th
at
Tom Kimbrough 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: