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Good Morning. This is Tom Kimbrough with the
Current Conditions:
Temperatures have warmed all
night and are now in the twenties at most mountain stations. Winds have picked up from the southwest,
blowing 20 to 30 mph on the highest peaks and 10 to 20 at 10,000 feet. Snow surface conditions were decent yesterday
with several inches of light powder snow over crusts, wind slabs and 1 to 3
feet of older faceted snow. Today’s
warmer temperatures and wind won’t improve the backcountry snow riding
conditions.
Avalanche Conditions:
Yesterday an avalanche worker
triggered a slide while doing control work in the American Fork drainage just
south of Little Cottonwood Canyon. The
slope had already been shot several times and had a bunch of slope cuts in it
but released when the 11th person cut the slope. It was a northerly facing slope above 10,000
feet and was about 35 degrees steepness.
Another slide was triggered remotely by a slope cut near Bonanza Flats
on the east side of the range. This
slide was large; 18 inches deep, 300 feet wide and ran 1,000 vertical. The slope was northeast facing at 9,200 feet.
These are yet more avalanches
in a persistent pattern that has plagued the Wasa
None of this bodes well for
the future. A weather change is already
upon us with the warming temperatures and increasing winds. Saturday will be even warmer and more windy and Sunday could see a decent storm over the Wasa
An additional problem today
and Saturday will be fresh drifts in wind exposed areas.
In the current conditions the
only sure ways to stay safe are to either stick to slopes that face the south
half of the compass, which are much more stable, or if you are getting onto the
northerly facing areas, stay off of and out from underneath slopes approaching
35 degrees or steeper.
Bottom Line (SLC,
The avalanche danger remains CONSIDERABLE on
northwest, north and east facing slopes 35 degrees or steeper and on steep
slopes with recent wind drifts. On
southerly facing slopes and on slopes less than 30 degrees, the avalanche
danger is generally LOW.
Bottom Line: (
The avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE on
northwest, north, northeast, and east facing slopes 35 degrees or steeper and
on steep slopes with recent wind drifts.
On southerly facing slopes and on slopes less than 30 degrees, the
avalanche danger is generally LOW.
Mountain Weather:
Skies will be partly cloudy
today with temperatures getting into the mid thirties at 8,000 feet and near
thirty at 10,000. Ridge top winds will
be 15 to 25 mph from the southwest.
Saturday will be warmer and more windy with
(hopefully) snow beginning Saturday night and possibly continuing through
Sunday.
General Information:
Wasa
The Friends of the
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.
Evelyn Lees will update this advisory by
Thanks for calling!
________________________________________________________________________
National
Weather Service - Salt Lake City - Snow.
For an explanation of
avalanche danger ratings: