Wasatch Cache National Forest

In partnership with: The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center, Utah Department of Public Safety Division of Comprehensive Emergency Management, Salt Lake County, and Utah State Parks

: http://www.avalanche.org/~uac/

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Avalanche advisory

Tuesday, DECEMBER 9, 2003 7:30 am

Good morning, this is Andrew McLean with the Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center with your avalanche and mountain weather advisory. Today is Tuesday, December 9th 2003, and it’s 7:30 a.m.

We’re giving two free avalanche awareness talks this week: the first will be tonight at Black Diamond Equipment at 7pm and the second, on Wednesday at 7pm, at the Mt. Olympus Presbyterian church (3280E 3900S), sponsored by the Wasatch Mountain Club.

Current Conditions:

There seems to be no shortage of “Best Day of the Season’s” this year and today promises to be yet another. After last weeks dry spell, the past 48 hours have provided the perfect storm to get us back on track with incredible turning conditions and a stable snowpack. Yesterday’s biggest complaint was that it was only bottomless 90% of the time and occasionally you’d bounce off a buried layer. Settled storm totals ranged from 20” in Little Cottonwood Canyon and the Ogden area mountains, to 18” in Big Cottonwood and Park City area, and 12- 15” in the Provo and Uinita mountains. Most of this was in the light density category that Utah is so well known for. Today will be clear and cool, with scattered clouds, temperatures in the mid 20’s at 8,000’ and a light breeze out of the northwest.

Avalanche Conditions:

Considering how much new snow has fallen, there has been surprisingly little avalanche activity in the central Wasatch Mountains. A big part of this can be contributed to the storm coming in warm and wet, then getting progressively colder, which is just how you want it – heavy on the bottom, light on the top. Gusty ridgetop winds have started to create slabs on the windward side and wind loaded pillows on the leeward side at elevations above 9,000’. These slabs are cracking a bit, but staying in place and worth watching out for. Cornice drops and explosive work in these areas have produced avalanches 12 – 18” deep that are running 150’ and breaking out in the new snow. In the Ogden area, cohesive soft slabs have formed that are breaking out up to 24” deep. Another thing to watch out for is fast charging sluffs on steeper terrain, especially around rock outcroppings.

As with any storm that deposits large amounts of new snow, it’s good avalanche protocol to nibble around the edges at first, before jumping right in and center-punching large, exposed slopes.

Bottom Line (Salt Lake, Park City, and Provo area mountains):

The avalanche danger is LOW on all slopes less than 35 degrees in steepness and MODERATE on wind loaded slopes above 9,000’ that are steeper than 35 degrees.

Ogden area mountains: The danger remains CONSIDERABLE danger on higher elevation slopes steeper than 35 degrees and MODERATE on all other slopes.

Mountain Weather:

There will be a nice break in the weather today as an upper level ridge moves across northern Utah, bringing dry air and temperatures in the mid 20’s to the region. Starting on Wednesday, a storm system will move in, bring cooler temperatures and higher winds with snowfall expected by the afternoon. This system should continue throughout Wednesday with the winds shifting from the west to the southwest and peaking in the evening at up to 30 mph along the ridgelines. The storm should continue through Thursday and begin tapering off by late Thursday evening and then clearing on Friday.

3-Day Table	3-Day Graph	7-Day Table
Ogden Mountains	Ogden Mountains	Ogden Mountains
SLC Mountains	SLC Mountains	SLC Mountains
Provo Mountains	Provo Mountains	Provo Mountains

For specific digital forecasts for selected mountain areas from the National Weather Service, click the links below or choose your own specific location at the National Weather Service Digital Forecast Page:

General Information:

If you are getting into the backcountry, please give us a call and let us know what you’re seeing, especially if you trigger an avalanche. You can leave a message at 524-5304 or 1-800-662-4140. Or you can e-mail an observation to uac@avalanche .org, or you can fax an observation to 801-524-6301.

The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center is offering two 3-day avalanche workshops which are being held January 17-19 and February 14-16. Information and sign-up sheets are available at the Black Diamond store (2092 E. 3900 S.; 278-0233).

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 on Wednesday morning.

Thanks for calling.

_____________________________________________________________________________

For more detailed weather information go to our Mountain Weather Advisory

National Weather Service - Salt Lake City - Snow.

For an explanation of avalanche danger ratings:

http://www.avalanche.org/usdanger.htm