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
Sunday,
March 23, 2003
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Good Morning. This is Ethan Greene with the
Current Conditions:
Yesterday I didn’t see any other
2 plankers in the mountains, but there were plenty of
hikers, bikers, climbers, and even a few fishermen. Last night under mostly cloudy skies
temperatures dipped into the upper 30’s at 8,000’ and low 30’s at 10,000’. The winds have been from the southwest in the
20 mph range with gusts into the 30’s.
Along the highest peaks the winds have been in the 30 mph range with
gusts into the 50’s. At
The snow got pretty wet
yesterday on all aspects below about 8,000’.
Southerly aspects were wet at all elevations, but there was still some
nice, dry snow on northerly aspects above maybe 9,300’. Under a blanket of clouds only the surface
of the snow froze overnight. Below about
9,000’ there is probably a breakable crust on all aspects this morning.
Avalanche Conditions:
The next storm system is
knocking at our door, but it hasn’t stepped over the threshold just yet. Clouds and cooling temperatures should reduce
the chances of wet slides today, but with only a shallow freeze overnight even
a short period of direct sun could tip the scales. If the sun breaks trough the clouds look for
signs of increasing wet slide activity such as point release avalanches coming
out of rocky areas. If you’re sinking
into the snow more than 6 or 8 inches it’s time to get off of and out from
under steep sun exposed slopes. There
were two large natural glide avalanches reported yesterday. These slides came off of the steep east
facing rock slabs in Broads Fork. The
danger from this type of avalanche will decrease today, but traveling under
steep rock slabs is probably not a good idea this morning.
By this afternoon it should
start to feel like winter again.
Temperatures at 8,000’ will drop below freezing and we should get some
snow. As the new snow starts to pile up
expect some sluffing off the steeper slopes.
Southwest winds should remain in the 20+ mph range through the afternoon,
so wind pillows will be forming around the usual terrain features. Fresh wind drifts will be easy to trigger,
but most of them will be less than a foot deep.
Remember that even small avalanches can be dangerous if they push you
off a cliff or into a tree or gulley.
Bottom Line (SLC,
Today there is a MODERATE avalanche
danger. The danger of wet slides will be
decreasing during the day, while the danger from wind drifts will increase in
the afternoon. There also remains a MODERATE danger of
triggering a deep slab avalanche on slopes steeper than 35 degrees and above
about 9,500 feet.
Mountain Weather:
A Pacific trough will move
into northern
General Information:
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.
I will update this advisory by
Thanks for calling!
________________________________________________________________________
National Weather Service - Salt Lake City - Snow.
For an explanation of avalanche
danger ratings: