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
Tuesday,
March 25, 2003
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Good Morning. This is Tom Kimbrough with the
Current Conditions:
Skies were mostly clear
overnight, allowing temperatures to drop into the teens and low twenties in the
mountains. Winds are westerly 10 to 20
mph at most stations, with stronger winds at the highest elevations, hitting 35
to 50 mph. Snow conditions are less than
ideal with lots of variable crusts, some of which may be supportable this
morning on southeast, south and southwest facing slopes. There is a little powder in the shade at the
highest elevations.
Avalanche Conditions:
Yesterday’s warmth combined
with last night’s cooling will give us mostly stable snow this morning. Along upper elevation ridge lines and gullies
there may be a few drifts of Sunday night’s new snow that could still be
sensitive today but these are mostly shallow.
With lots of sun today and 8,000 foot temperatures getting into the mid
forties, the danger will begin to rise as the thermometer heads upward. When the snow turns to deep wet mush, it’s
time to swi
There may still be isolated places
where it is possible to trigger an avalanche on a deeper weak layer. Setting off one of these deep releases at
this time probably requires a fairly large trigger and some bad luck but the
consequences could be very serious. The
most likely place to find this sort of trouble is a very steep northerly facing
slope above 9,500 feet, especially in rocky areas with a relatively thin snow
pack. I think this danger also increases
with daytime warming.
Bottom Line (SLC,
The avalanche danger is
generally LOW this
morning but will increase to MODERATE
as temperatures rise. The isolated
danger of triggering a deep slab avalanche on slopes approaching 40 degrees and
above about 9,500 feet will also increase to MODERATE as the day warms.
Mountain Weather:
High pressure will be over
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.
Evelyn Lees will update this advisory by
Thanks for calling!
________________________________________________________________________
National Weather Service - Salt Lake City - Snow.
For an explanation of
avalanche danger ratings: