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

Tuesday, April 06, 2004,   7:30 am

 

Good morning, this is Andrew McLean with the Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center with your backcountry avalanche and mountain weather advisory.  Today is Tuesday, April 06, 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:

After sporadic showers yesterday afternoon, the skies cleared under a full moon and temperatures dropped to just above freezing along the ridgetops.  Winds slowed to a whispery 5 mph from all points of the compass and are expected to increase throughout today.   Last night was more of a solid “refresh” of the snowpack, rather than a legitimate refreeze, which will make for excellent morning travel.  In backcountry areas with a deep snowpack, nature has done a magnificent job of grooming acres of smooth open fields of carvable terrain.

 

Avalanche Conditions:

April showers bring May flowers, as well as rocks, stumps and corn snow hours.  Getting an earlier start not only makes travel easier, but will keep you out of the strike zone for wet snow avalanches.  Most of the slopes have shed their winter coats already, but a few higher elevation aspects are still shaking it off.  These isolated pockets tend to be steep, shady areas that are heating up with the warm ambient temperatures, instead of direct sunlight.  Watch out for mushy, shin deep snow, especially around thin, rocky areas, such as ridge crests or steep roll-overs.  These areas will be most active during the heat of the day, or immediately after a thundershower.

 

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:

A mild, moist airmass will pay a visit today, bringing a chance of afternoon showers, thunderstorms and lightning.  Temperatures will max out at just below 50 at 8,000’ before dropping down to slightly above freezing tonight.  Light winds out of the south will intensify throughout the day and become moderate and variable in direction. This pattern will continue through Wednesday, then dry out on Thursday ahead of a cold front that is dropping out of the north on Friday.

 

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 off of Twin Peaks into American Fork yesterday, as well as a run in Cascade.  Today they will return to American Fork and White Pine. 

 

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.

 

Evelyn Lees will update this advisory Wednesday morning.

 

Thanks for calling.

 

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