In partnership with: The Friends of the
Utah Avalanche Center, Utah Department of Public Safety Division of
Comprehensive Emergency Management,
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Avalanche INFORMATION
Friday, November 12,
2004 5:30 pm
Good
afternoon, this is Drew Hardesty with the
Current Conditions:
October
went out like a lion, and so far November has been a lamb. The mountains have picked up a few inches of
snow and graupel over the past couple of days, but I’d have to call the conditions
variable. The backcountry buffet
consists of a little powder, both breakable and supportable crusts, and near
unsupportable isothermal wet snow at the low elevations. Winds have been generally light and from the
southeast with temperatures in the mid-twenties to mid-thirties.
Avalanche Conditions:
While
the snowpack is mostly stable, there are a couple of potentials to store in
your cerebral filing cabinet over the weekend.
First, you might get some sluffing in the new snow and graupel on the steepest
shady slopes, while sun and warm temperatures will start to produce some wet
sluffs on the steeper south-facing terrain.
It might not be enough to bury
you, but consequences might include getting knocked off your board, skis or
machine then over a cliff or into some trees.
The other potential problem is at the lower elevation areas at about
8000’ and below. The warmer temps have
created a weak isothermal glop of mostly unsupportable damp to wet snow. It’ll be important to avoid steep rollovers
and gulleys that serve as terrain traps to catch and
funnel this until cooler temperatures ‘lock up’ the snow at these elevations.
As
always, keep a heads-up for changing conditions. Higher-than-forecasted snow and winds would
certainly produce more sensitive conditions in the backcountry.
Mountain Weather:
As
we’re still under the spell of a slow-moving cut-off Low to the south, we’ll
see continued unsettled weather through the weekend. We might see a trace to 3” every 12 hours or
so. Winds should remain light out of the
southeast on Saturday, then move northeasterly by Sunday. 8000’ highs will be in the upper 30’s with
10,000’ temps in the upper 20’s. A ridge
builds in early Monday, with a decent storm possible for Friday.
If
you are getting out, drop us a line or an email with any reports or
observations from the backcountry. You
can leave us a message at 524-5304 or 1 800-662-4140. Email us at [email protected],
or send 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.
Thanks
for calling.
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