In
partnership with: The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center, Utah Department of
Public Safety Division of Comprehensive Emergency Management,
To have this advisory automatically e-mailed to you each day free of charge, visit: http://www.mailermailer.com/x?oid=16351h
For photos of avalanches and
avalanche phenomenon, visit: http://www.avalanche.org/%7Euac/photos_03-04.htm (Updated
3/25)
Photos sent in by observers
throughout the season visit: http://www.avalanche.org/~uac/obphotos/observer.html (Updated
4/2)
For a list of backcountry avalanche
activity, visit: http://www.avalanche.org/%7Euac/Avalanche_List.htm (Updated
3/31)
Early morning preliminary information by about 6:00 am: 801-364-1591
Avalanche advisory
Sunday, April 04, 2004, 7:30 am
Good
morning, this is Drew Hardesty with the
Current Conditions:
Under mostly clear skies, temps dropped to the mid to low thirties overnight and I’d expect we had a pretty decent refreeze. The southeasterly winds, after taking an afternoon siesta, are back into the 15-25 mph range this morning. With no storms in sight and the creeks hoppin’ from snowmelt, I’m starting to feel – as always for this time of year – a bit sentimental about the season. Nonetheless, it’s still worth a walk in the hills. Arguably, the tool of choice for the backcountry appears to be snowboards or water-skis, at least by midday.
Avalanche Conditions:
The standard spring rules apply: get out early and keep an eye on the sog-factor as things heat up. Timing is everything here, and I waited an hour after a steep south-facing slope had become shaded to ski down to the road. While the plumbing system within the snowpack itself seems to be smooth, it’s the upper 4-10” of last week’s snow that can still sluff as it takes its time to consolidate above the old melt freeze crust. Natural wet sluffs on all aspects are still commonplace and even one notorious backcountry skier was knocked over by a wet mucker he triggered on a steep north-facing rollover – not an hour after I complimented him on him being on his best behavior this winter.
Bottom
Line for the
There is generally a LOW avalanche danger this morning that will rise to moderate during the heat of the day.
Mountain Weather:
Today will be partly cloudy with light southeasterly
winds. 8 and 10,000’ highs will be in
the mid forties and mid thirties, respectively.
The Low to the south may kick in a little moisture by evening and off
and on through Tuesday. Thunderstorms
may not be out of the question either.
The next splitter should hit
For specific digital forecasts for the
General Information:
We will continue to issue morning forecasts for another week, and then we’ll go to intermittent afternoon updates after the Easter weekend.
The
Wasatch Powderbird Guides did not fly yesterday, and today will be in the
Bountiful Sessions, AF, Snake Creek and
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 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 Monday morning.
Thanks for calling.
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