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
Wednesday, November 17,
2004 5:30 pm
Good
afternoon, this is Evelyn Lees with the
Current Conditions:
Thursday
will be the last day of warmth before icebox temperatures arrive on Friday. There are about 6 inches of good quality recrystallized
powder on wind sheltered, shady slopes above about
9,000, best if you can find an untracked slope. Most other slopes are sun and heat affected, with
a mix of supportable to breakable crusts, some of which soften nicely after
they warm for good spring like conditions.
Avalanche Conditions:
Tricky
little wind slabs continue to be the main avalanche problem. On Monday, several more were purposely skier
triggered during control work in Little Cottonwood Canyon, and Tuesday, a few
more were released with explosive control work.
These hard slabs are about 20 to 50 wide and averaging 6 to 12 deep,
though one was up to 2. They seem to be
in isolated spots off the ridgelines, and definitely large enough to take a
person for a ride. They are smooth, hard,
and maybe hollow sounding. Damp sluffs will be possible one last time on Thursday
with day time warming.
A
few inches of light density snow are expected Friday, and sluffing may become a
problem on the shady, upper elevation slopes.
These slopes have weak,
recrystalized snow on the surface, and the new snow will bond poorly to this.
Mountain Weather:
A
high pressure system over the intermountain west through Thursday will give one
more day of spring like weather. Highs
Thursday will once again be in the mid 30s to upper 40s. A cold front will move through Thursday night
and Friday, plunging the temperatures into the single digits by Saturday. On Friday, highs will be in the mid 20s at
8000 and the mid teens at 10,000. Winds
will be from the northwest, in the 10 to 20 mph range, and 3 to 6 of low
density snow are possible.
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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