Wasatch Cache National Forest

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

The Utah Avalanche Center Home page is: http://www.avalanche.org/~uac/

Avalanche advisory

Sunday, December 1, 2002

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Good Morning. This is Ethan Greene with the Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center with your backcountry avalanche and mountain weather advisory. Today is Sunday, December 1, 2002, and it’s 7:30 am.

Current Conditions:

Yesterday was a warm one with high temperatures in the mid 30’s at both 8,000’ and 10,000’. A cold front moved through the Wasatch Mountains early this morning and currently temperatures are in the mid 20’s at most locations. Easterly winds yesterday evening have shifted to the southeast overnight and west this morning. Wind speeds have generally been less than 10 mph.

Avalanche Conditions:

In most areas of the Wasatch Mountains the snow cover is thin and getting thinner. The last week of warm temperatures has cause the snow to disappear on many south-facing aspects. On sunny slopes that still have snow, the snow is fairly firm. On shady aspects the air temperature has remained cool enough to cause the snow to become loose and weak. With the weakest snow near the snow surface and no significant snow storms in the forecast our avalanche problems remain relatively minor.

Bottom Line (SLC, Ogden, and Provo Area Mountains):

The avalanche danger is generally LOW today. Loose sluffs on shady aspects are possible in steep rocky terrain.

Mountain Weather:

A cold front moved through the Wasatch Range this morning bringing cooler temperatures to the mountains. Today, instability associated with this feature will bring mostly cloudy to overcast skies and snow flurries. Snow accumulations will be in the trace to 2” range depending on location. Temperatures will rise into the mid 30’s at 8,000’ and mid to upper 20’s at 10,000’. Winds will shift to the northwest during the day, but remain light. The weather will remain unsettled for the next few days with a chance of snow showers each day. A more robust system is forecast to move through the Wasatch Range mid week.

General Information:

A great Christmas present for someone you love is an avalanche beacon. To help you decide which one to buy, we have posted a couple recent tests of various brands of avalanche beacons on the web. Point your browser to www.avalanche.org and click on Salt Lake, then on Education. At the same location, you can find a complete list of avalanche talks and multi-day classes.

To report backcountry snow and avalanche conditions, especially if you observe or trigger an avalanche, call (801) 524-5304 or 1-800-662-4140, or email to [email protected] or fax to 801-524-6301. 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 7:30 on Monday morning.

Thanks for calling!

________________________________________________________________________

National Weather Service - Salt Lake City - Snow.

For an explanation of avalanche danger ratings:

http://www.avalanche.org/usdanger.htm