Wasatc h
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, January 20, 2004 7:30 am
Good
morning, this is Andrew McLean with the
The new film "Spirit of Snow" is playing tomorrow night, Wednesday, January 21, at 7 pm at the University of Utah Social & Behavioral Science Auditorium. For more information call Wasatch Touring at 801/359-9361.
Backcountry Awareness Week is January 19-25th and there are a number of events and presentations. For details visit www.backcountryawareness.com.
For photos
of avalanches and avalanche phenomenon, click HERE.
Photos sent in by observers throughout the season
click HERE.
For a list of backcountry avalanche activity, click HERE.
Current Conditions:
Yesterday, under mostly cloudy skies Little Cottonwood Canyon picked up anywhere from FIVE to almost FOURTEEN … millimeters of new snow, or about half an inch. We’re hoping for a similar amount today, with mostly cloudy skies and a moderate wind out of the east. Temperatures should be in the comfortable high teens at 8,000’ and rising to a max in the low twenties this afternoon. Backcountry turning and riding conditions continue to be surprisingly good due to the miracle of recrystalized powder and no shortage of supportable windboard at higher elevations.
Avalanche Conditions:
Theoretically, it should snow again this year and it might even happen sometime this season. Unusual conditions, like two weeks of high pressure in January, can lead to unusual avalanches when it finally does snow. Right now, the snowpack is stable, but we have three future concerns, with the most dangerous being the advanced surface hoar growth. These feathery crystals are in scattered places due to the fluctuating temperatures and inversion, but seem most prevalent in the mid elevations around creek beds or in areas where cold air can pool. The second concern is all of the recrystalized surface snow, which makes for fun turning and riding, but its loose, sugary consistency also make it a potential future weak layer. The last concern is that the mid to lower elevation sunny aspects have settled and melted down to a shallow snowpack. This thin coverage is weakening from the ground up and may not be able to support the sudden weight of any substantial amount of new snow. All of these issues will be dependant on how the next storm comes in, so we will have to just wait and see.
Bottom Line for the Wasatch Range, including
the
Currently, the avalanche danger is low on all aspects and elevations of the Wasatch mountains. Human triggered avalanches will be unlikely in the backcountry.
Mountain Weather:
Today will continue with the mostly cloudy weather, temperatures in the high teens to low twenties and moderate winds out of the east. The moist air mass that is currently over the area will dry out tonight as the flow becomes easterly. We may get a trace of snow will be this evening, and then high pressure builds back in from the north on Wednesday and remains through Friday. Temperatures will range from single digit lows at night to the mid 30’s during the day and our next best chance for snow looks like Saturday or Sunday.
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.
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3-Day Table |
3-Day Graph |
7-Day Table |
General Information:
Yesterday, the Wasatch Powderbird Guides were
grounded due to weather and today they will be flying in Mill Creek, Mineral,
The Banff Film Festival, a benefit for the Friends
of the
We always appreciate your backcountry observations, especially
if you trigger or observe an avalanche.
You can leave us a message at 524-5304 or 1-800-662-4140, or e-mail us
at
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 Wednesday morning.
Thanks for calling.
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