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:

 

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

Monday, April 05, 2004,   7:30 am

 

Good morning, this is Drew Hardesty with the Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center with your backcountry avalanche and mountain weather advisory.  Today is Monday, April 05, 2004, and it’s 7:30 a.m.  This forecast is brought to you in partnership with the Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center, supported in part by the Uinta Brewing Company.

 

Current Conditions:

Under clear skies and a full moon, temps are a mirror image of yesterday morning with overnight lows in the mid to low thirties.  The winds have turned 180 degrees, veering from the southeast to the northwest and all stations are less than 15 mph.  Aided by last week’s new snow to smooth over the older ruts and clinkers, many slopes should again be primed for some good corn conditions today.  

 

Avalanche Conditions:

Same old, same old.  The standard spring rules apply: get out early and keep an eye on the how soggy things become during the heat of the day.  Like most things in life, timing is everything.  If you feel like you’ve become a human bowling pin underneath the pinwheels and cinnamon rolls, you’ve overstayed your welcome and will be your cue to move on to a cooler slope. More tragic would be getting knocked over by wet snow while pushing it down some radical line you’ve been scoping all winter, rag-dolling through rocks and over cliffs.  The upper 4-10” of last week’s snow on north-facing slopes is still trying to consolidate above the old melt freeze crust and could remain a problem later in the day.  Lastly, don’t forget to keep an eye out to avoid thinner snowpack areas after the thaw, particularly near rocks and shrubs.    

 

Bottom Line for the Salt Lake, Park CITY, Provo, and ogden AREA MOUNTAINS:

There is generally a LOW avalanche danger this morning that will rise to moderate during the heat of the day. 

 

Uinta Mountains:  For Uinta specific information, click on Western Uintas on the advisory page or phone 1-800-648-7433.

Logan: click HERE or call 435-797-4146

 

Mountain Weather:

Today will be partly cloudy with light northwesterly winds.  8 and 10,000’ highs will be in the mid fifties and upper forties, respectively.  There remains a chance of afternoon showers and thunderstorms.  The next splitter should hit Utah by late Tuesday that will likely bring only clouds, a wind shift, and slightly cooler temps.  The longer range models suggest possible storminess for the weekend as the trof to the northeast drops southwest into northern Utah.  

 

For specific digital forecasts for the Salt Lake, Provo or Ogden mountains, CLICK HERE.

 

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 flew in AF yesterday and will be back there today. 

 

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.

 

Andrew McLean will update this advisory Tuesday morning.

 

Thanks for calling.

 

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