Wasatc h
Cache National Forest
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
The Utah Avalanche Center Home page
is: http://www.avalanche.org/~uac/
Avalanche advisory
Wednesday,
April 02, 2003
If you want this advisory
automatically e-mailed to you each day for free, click HERE.
If you want recent archives
of this advisory, click HERE.
To e-mail us an observation, CLICK HERE.
To see photos of recent
avalanche activity CLICK HERE (Will update
To see a list of recent
avalanches, CLICK HERE (updated daily)
Good Morning. This is Ethan Greene with the
Current Conditions:
If you’re considering
calling-in-sick for work this morning you may want to wait one more day. Temperatures are in the upper 30’s at 8,000’
and near 30 degrees at 10,000’. The skies
have been mostly cloudy overnight and the winds are in the 30 mph range from
the southwest. At more exposed stations
there have been wind gusts in the 70’s and there is a High Wind Warning in
affect for the
Yesterday there was still
some dense but dry snow on northerly aspects at upper elevations. Elsewhere there was a nice mix of breakable
crusts and sloppy snow.
Avalanche Conditions:
Mountain temperatures got a
little colder last night, but the refreeze was shallow in areas below
8,000’. The snow in mid-elevation areas
remains quite damp and loose. This mushy
snow is quite dense and if you get some moving down the hill it tends to wrap
around you like a mystical sea creature dragging you into the unknown
depths. This situation is especially
dangerous if the slide pushes you off a cliff or into a tree or gully. The warm temperatures have also weakened some
of the cornices, so they may be easier to trigger and break back farther than
you expect.
This morning and this
afternoon are going to seem like two different days. Presently it’s quite warm and the southerly
winds are howling. This afternoon a cold
front will move though the Wasa
Bottom Line (SLC,
Today there is a MODERATE danger of loose
snow avalanches below about 8,500’.
Above about 8,500’ the avalanche danger is generally LOW this morning, but it will
increase to MODERATE
this afternoon with snow and wind.
There is also a MODERATE
danger of both natural and triggered wet slab avalanches breaking into deep,
old snow layers on all steep slopes.
Mountain Weather:
A strong Pacific trough and
associated cold front will move into the
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: