Wasatc h
Cache National Forest
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Good Morning. This is Bruce Tremper with the
UDOT will be sighting in the
gun in
Current Conditions:
Well, stranger things have
been known to happen. We actually got
some snow in the mountains—a mighty 1-2 inches.
These days, it doesn’t take much to get us excited. It’s still warm in the mountains this morning
with mountain top temperatures in the mid to upper 20’s and winds from the west
around 20 mph and 30 on the most exposed peaks.
The old snow surface is a
maddening mix of sun and wind crusts in most areas, but believe it or not,
there’s still lots of soft, settled recrystalized snow that feels like powder
on the northerly facing, wind sheltered areas.
Avalanche Conditions:
Most of the slabs and weak
layers have been lounging around for the past week and they are now relaxed
like a sleeping cat draped over the back of the couch. Even though most of the slabs have very weak
snow underneath them, they don’t seem inclined to move with the weight of a
person and we’re calling the avalanche danger mostly LOW. If,
by some miracle, we get more than a few inches out of this storm, (it should be
ending this morning) the avalanche danger could rise to MODERATE, especially on steep slopes with
recent wind drifts. Also, the snow
surface has been getting so weak, that we have seen some significant sluffs of surface
snow on steep slopes that are starting to get large enough to mention.
Bottom Line (SLC,
There is a LOW avalanche danger on all
slopes, but if we get more than a few inches of snow today, there will be a MODERATE danger on steep
slopes with recent wind drifts.
Mountain Weather:
I’m not sure I can dignify
this disturbance by calling it a storm, but whatever it is, it should end this
morning after putting down a couple inches of snow. We should have partly cloudy skies for the
rest of today with perhaps a few more snowflakes tonight. Daytime highs at 8,000’ should be around 40
degrees with ridge top temperatures around 30.
Ridge top winds should blow from the west around 20 mph.
For the extended forecast,
the general pattern for the next 10 days is more encouraging as the ridge is
flattening out, allowing more impulses to get through. We will, however, still be stuck under a weak
ridge with some moisture and a series of weak systems coming over the top of
the ridge, which should give us cloudy skies and occasional light snow showers
for the next week or so. The next pulse
looks like this weekend and then more pulses through next week. None of these disturbances look like they
will give us any significant snow, but they may freshen things up a
little.
General Information:
Wasa
The Friends of the
On Sunday February 2nd
there will be a fundraiser for the Wasa
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.
Tom Kimbrough will update this advisory by
Thanks for calling!
________________________________________________________________________
National
Weather Service - Salt Lake City - Snow.
For an explanation of
avalanche danger ratings: