In partnership with: The Friends of the Utah
Saturday,
April 19, 2003
Good Morning. This is Ethan Greene with the
Current Conditions:
Snow showers diminished
overnight, but the mountains still picked up a couple of inches of new
snow. Storm totals are in the 10 to 15
inch range with 0.8 to 1.4 inches of water.
The
Last night under mostly
cloudy skies, temperatures dipped into the mid 20’s at 8,000’ and high teens at
10,000’. The winds are from the north
and northeast in the 10 mph range with gusts into the upper 20’s along the high
peaks.
In most areas the snow
surface is covered with soft new snow.
Areas below about 9,500’ became damp yesterday during a period of thin
clouds. Yesterday the old snow below
about 8,500’ was still damp to the ground.
Avalanche Conditions:
Snow conditions were quite
variable before the storm, and that pattern hasn’t changed much since. In areas below about 8,500’ the old snowpack
is still wet and mushy. These areas are
now covered with a blanket of new snow and it will take a while for the old
snow to refreeze. This wet snowpack is
quite weak, so small avalanches could dig down into the old snow. Fortunately there isn’t much new snow in
these areas, and the old snow is generally supporting its new load.
Above about 9,500’ were the
old surface was frozen it is relatively easy to trigger small sluffs and soft
slabs on steep slopes. These slides are
either running on the old snow surface or a weakness within the new snow. They are generally less than a foot deep and
are most dangerous if they can push you off a cliff or into a tree or gulley.
Today the cloud cover will be
decreasing. As the sun hits the new snow
natural avalanche are likely. With thin
clouds these avalanches will be possible on all aspects. In most places they will be sluffs and soft
slabs running on the old snow surface, but on large slopes these will still be
dangerous avalanches. As the day warms
up avoid traveling under large open slopes.
Bottom Line (SLC,
Today the avalanche danger is
still LOW in areas that
received less than about 6 inches of snow.
In areas with more than about 8 inches of snow the avalanche danger is MODERATE on slopes
steeper than 35 degrees. As the sun
breaks through the clouds in the afternoon the avalanche danger will rise and
could reach CONSIDERABLE. Avoid traveling under steep slopes as the day
warms up.
On Sunday the avalanche conditions
will be quite similar. If there are
significant periods of sun today, the snow will be less sensitive tomorrow.
Logan – call 435-797-4146 or Click Here.
Mountain Weather:
The trough that brought us
new snow today is moving off to the east.
A ridge of high pressure will build in over
General Information:
Today is my last advisory for
the
To report backcountry snow
and avalanche conditions, especially if you observe or trigger an avalanche,
call (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.
Bruce Tremper will update this advisory on Monday
afternoon.
Thanks for calling!
________________________________________________________________________
National
Weather Service - Salt Lake City - Snow.
For an explanation of
avalanche danger ratings:
http://www.avalanche.org/usdanger.htm