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
Wednesday,
March 19, 2003
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Good Morning. This is Evelyn Lees with the
Current Conditions:
Skies are still cloudy this
morning, and in the last 24 hours the mountains have picked up an additional 1
to 3” of snow. This brings storm totals
since Friday to 20 to 34” in the Cottonwoods (with water contents approaching 2
to 3 ˝ inches), 10 to 20” on the
Avalanche Conditions:
Yesterday, there were half a
dozen new snow slides triggered in the backcountry, mostly with intentional ski
cuts. Three of the slides took out all
the new snow since Friday, running on the crust from the warm spell. They were 1 ˝ to 2’ deep, 60 to 125’ wide,
and were on southwesterly facing slopes in
On the
Today you can expect to find
similar, easily-triggered wind slabs on any slopes steeper than 35 degrees with
recent deposits of wind drifted snow. While
these kinds of fresh, soft wind slabs are much more predictable and easier to
deal with than deep avalanches, they can still be dangerous. They can easily slam you into trees or bury
you in a deep depression such as a gully.
Multiple slope cuts or cornice drops are good defensive techniques if
you’re planning to get on to a steeper slope.
If you are in an area today where the sun breaks through the clouds for
any extended time or the winds become stronger than forecast, the avalanche danger
will rise on and below steep slopes.
Finally, there remains an
isolated chance of triggering an avalanche breaking into deeply buried faceted
snow on a steep slope with a shallow snowpack above 9,500’. Also, a shallower, soft slab avalanche may
step down into these deeper weak layers as it descends.
Bottom Line (SLC,
Today there is a MODERATE danger of human
triggered avalanches on slopes steeper than 35 degrees with recent wind
drifts. On slopes with wind deposits
more than a foot deep, the danger is CONSIDERABLE.
There is also a MODERATE
danger of triggering deeper avalanches on slopes above 9,500 feet that face the
north half of the compass plus east facing slopes, especially ones with a
shallow snow pack. Slopes less steep
than about 35 degrees have a LOW
danger.
Bottom Line: (
Mountain Weather:
The monster low now over the
central plains is continuing to send moisture back westward all the way into northern
General Information:
If
To report backcountry snow
and avalanche conditions, especially if you observe or trigger an avalanche,
please leave a message on our answer machine at (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.
Ethan Greene will update this advisory by
Thanks for calling!
________________________________________________________________________
National Weather Service - Salt Lake City - Snow.
For an explanation of
avalanche danger ratings: