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 Evelyn
Lees with the
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 is falling in the
mountains, with overnight totals of 1 to 4 inches. The northwesterly winds have decreased and are
now averaging about 10 mph, with gusts in the 20’s. Temperatures are in the upper teens. Storm totals now range from 1 to 2 feet throughout
the range, with the areas of greatest accumulation being the upper elevations
in the Cottonwoods,
Avalanche Conditions:
Yesterday was the third very
active avalanche day in a row.
Backcountry travelers continued to trigger slides remotely, with the
most spectacular one occurring when a large portion of northerly facing upper
Silver Bowl released as a party crested the ridge. There were many other reports of cracking,
collapsing, and slides being released from a distance in the upper
Cottonwoods. All these slides are
failing on weak faceted snow near the ground, and occurring on shady slopes
above about 9,000’.
Another attention-grabbing occurrence
has been reported by several people. A ski
cut would trigger a shallow, loose new snow slide. Then when the person moved out on the slope,
the remaining harder layers of snow failed on the weak facets near the ground. Proving ski cuts are not a reliable test
under the current conditions.
Avalanches also occurred yesterday
within the new snow in areas of pooled graupel and in fresh wind drifts. These new snow weak layers are on a wider variety
of aspects, and more scattered and pockety.
Many of the unopened resorts,
including Alta, are closed to uphill traffic today for control work. Please obey all closure signs. Practice safe travel techniques - cross slopes
one at a time, don’t jump in above your partner and carry your backcountry
rescue gear like beacons, shovels and probes.
Bottom Line:
The avalanches danger is CONSIDERABLE today on steep, shady slopes
above about 9,000’ where there is an underlying layer of old October snow and
on any steep slope with recent deposits of wind drifted snow. Shady slopes are generally facing northwest
through north through northeast. Considerable
means human triggered slides are probable.
If you want LOW
danger terrain, stay on slopes of 30 degrees or less, and stay well out from
underneath steep slopes.
Mountain Weather:
The mountains should receive another
few inches of snow this morning, followed by decreasing snow showers this
afternoon. Moderate, northwesterly winds
this morning, averaging 20 mph. Highs temperatures
will be in the low to mid 20’s. High
pressure on Tuesday and early Wednesday, with a weak disturbance forecast for
Wednesday night.
General Information:
We have several free
avalanche awareness talks coming up – the first two are Tuesday, November 12th
at
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.
Bruce Tremper will update this advisory by 7:30 on Tuesday
morning.
Thanks for calling!
________________________________________________________________________
National
Weather Service - Salt Lake City - Snow.
For an explanation of
avalanche danger ratings: