In
partnership with: The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center, Utah Department of
Public Safety Division of Comprehensive Emergency Management,
For photos of avalanches and avalanche
activity, 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)
Avalanche Advisory afternoon update
Wednesday, April 21, 2004 5:30pm
Good afternoon, this is Craig
Gordon with the
Current Conditions:
Storm totals are starting to
stack up. Since Sunday, the Cottonwoods have received close to 30” of new snow
with over 2 “of water, including 8-12” last night. The
Avalanche Conditions:
Its winter again in the
mountains and the new snow has been quite active, with numerous reports of both
human triggered and natural avalanche activity in the Cottonwoods. Yesterday, two
backcountry enthusiasts sympathetically triggered a large soft slab avalanche
on the Baldy shoulder while starting to descend the main chute. The slide was
3-4’ deep and about 100’ wide. The two came out unscathed, though it was a
close call for them and the numerous other people in the area. (Baldy crown
and slide
Daniel Howlett photos). Remember, all the ski areas expect for Snowbird
are closed and no one is doing avalanche control work, and all closed ski areas
should be treated as backcountry terrain, even if they have old moguls.
Today, there were numerous natural
and human triggered slides on all aspects, involving snow from last night, with
a few breaking deeper into Tuesday’s snow. The snow was very sensitive to ski cuts, and the
slides averaged 9 to 18” deep, and 100 to 300’ wide. As the day heated up, the snow got damp; there
were natural and human
triggered wet sluffs and slabs on a variety of aspects and elevations. These entrained
enough snow to carry you off a cliff, into trees or even bury you in a
terrain trap.
An additional 8 to 16” of
snow is expected by tomorrow afternoon, coupled with increasing winds, and I
expect the avalanche danger to rise. If
you are heading out in the backcountry tomorrow, there is the potential for
another round of sensitive slab avalanches breaking out 1 to 2 feet deep and
over 100’ wide. It will be possible for
some of these slides to step down and take out all the snow that’s fallen this
week. Even if you’re staying on low
angle terrain tomorrow, be aware of both people and steep slopes above you.
BOTTOM LINE
FOR THE
Mountain Weather:
A wet pacific storm will move through tonight and
slowly clear the area late Thursday afternoon or Thursday night. Winds will be
light through Thursday morning then pick up from the north to northeast
Thursday afternoon and Thursday night. For tonight expect snow showers to
develop with 4-8” expected. Lows will be near 20 degrees at both 8 and 10,000’.
On Thursday another 4-8” are possible. High temperatures will be in the mid to
upper 20’s. Winds will be increasing on Thursday into the 25-30 mph range from
the northeast. High pressure builds in Friday through the weekend, which will
dramatically warm temperatures, so expect another round of wet avalanche
activity.
Backcountry
snow and avalanche information is still useful to us. So if you’re still getting out and see
anything of interest, leave us a message at 524-5304, 1 800-662-4140, drop us
an email at [email protected], or a fax
to 524-6301. The information in this advisory
is from the US Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its
content. This advisory describes general
avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.
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