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 26, 2003
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Good Morning. This is Evelyn Lees with the
Current Conditions:
Winds, clouds and temperatures
have been steadily increasing ahead of the approaching Pacific trough. Under cloudy skies, the southwesterly winds
are currently in the 15 to 25 mph range, with gusts in the 30’s and 40’s. Temperatures have warmed significantly, and
are near 30 above 9,000’, and near 40 at the lower elevations.
As for snow conditions, I
would definitely wait to call in sick until tomorrow, when there is a chance
for significant fresh powder. Yesterday’s
hot sun destroyed most of the soft snow, and a mix of crusts dominates the snow
surface today. There is a little powder on
very sheltered, shady slopes at the higher elevations.
Avalanche Conditions:
The strong winds will manage
to find the last bits of loose snow, and whip up a few fresh wind drifts today. While the drifts will be shallow and pockety,
they will certainly be sensitive and a few large enough to grab you and take you
for a ride. Once the snow starts to pile
up later today and tonight, the size, depth and danger of the new drifts will
rapidly increase. With above freezing
temperature below about 8,500’ and some heating today, wet loose sluffs are
possible on steep slopes. So if you find
yourself on a slope where the snow is wet mush, it’s time to swi
In my snow pits yesterday, I
was unable to isolate a column around the buried crust from Sunday’s rain and
warm snow. The weak snow around this
crust could be a problem layer on shady mid and upper elevation slopes with the
expected load of new snow.
And finally, there may still
be isolated places where it is possible to trigger an avalanche on a deeper
weak layer, with very serious consequences.
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.
Bottom Line (SLC,
The danger of wet loose
sluffs is MODERATE today
on steep slopes, especially at the lower elevations and in areas of rain on
loose snow. There is a MODERATE danger on any
steep slope with recent deposits of wind drifted snow. The isolated danger of triggering a deep slab
avalanche on slopes approaching 40 degrees and above about 9,500 feet remains MODERATE. On slopes less steep than 35 degrees, the
danger generally is LOW.
Mountain Weather:
The Pacific cold front will reach
the central Wasa
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: