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 morning, this is Tom
Kimbrough 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:
A dandy early season storm is
on our doorstep this morning. Precipitation
started a little before daylight in the mountains and snow should keep coming
down hard for most of the day. The snow
level will be rather high today, around 7,000 feet. Winds are strong from the south, blowing 20
to 40 mph on the ridges, with gusts to 80.
Avalanche Conditions:
The main avalanche message is
rising danger today and on into the weekend.
On shady slopes above about 9,000 feet one to two feet of old faceted
snow from October will provide a poor base for the fresh deposits. In addition, the very strong winds will be
forming drifts on exposed slopes. As
this storm develops, slides will be breaking both in the new snow and in the
old layers from October.
If there is enough snow to turn
or sled on, then there is enough snow to slide.
To prove it,
The fresh snow will be
disguising many barely covered obstacles so beware of ending your season on
some rock or stump that is just under the surface.
Bottom Line:
The avalanche danger today is
confined to areas with old October snow: northeast, north and northwest facing slopes
above about 9,000’. Early today the
danger is MODERATE
on steep wind drifted slopes but will rise to CONSIDERABLE as accumulations add up. Human triggered avalanches will be likely and
natural avalanches possible. As the
weekend progresses, the dangerous areas will become more widespread. If this storm really puts it down, the danger
could become HIGH later
this weekend. Out of wind affected
terrain and on lower angle slopes, the danger is LOW.
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
I will update this advisory by
Thanks for calling!
________________________________________________________________________
National
Weather Service - Salt Lake City - Snow.
For an explanation of
avalanche danger ratings: