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 ADVISORY
Wednesday, December 01,
2004 7:30 Am
Good
morning, this is Evelyn Lees with the
Tomorrow night, Thursday
December 2nd, is a benefit for our partners The Friends of the
We will also be giving a free
avalanche awareness talk at the Sandy REI tomorrow night at 7 pm.
Current Conditions:
Temperatures
are remaining stubbornly cold, even with the blanket of clouds that moved in
overnight. The mercury is near the 10
degree mark at the mid elevations and near zero along the higher ridges. The winds picked for a while last night, into
the 15 to 25 mph range from a northwesterly direction, but have now decreased
to less than 15 mph. There is cold, dry
powder on most aspects, but the Sunday wind damage is irritating widespread,
and at both upper and mid elevations.
Avalanche Conditions:
There
were two more human triggered slides in the backcountry yesterday. In the Silver Fork Meadow Chutes, a skier
triggered a slide
mid-slope, on a NE facing rollover that was about 90’ wide by 1 ½’
deep. In
Basically,
on slopes that have slid one or more
times during the storm cycle, the avalanche danger is mostly confined to drifts of
wind blown snow. On steep slopes
that have not slid, the avalanche
danger remains serious. If you do
trigger a slide, it will be about 1 ½ to 2’ deep by
100’ wide – definitely large enough
to take you for a nasty ride or bury you.
Most
likely place to trigger a slide would be on a steep, shady slope above about 9,000’.
(Provo/Ogden area
mountains – above about 7000’)
Backcountry travelers should continue to stay on lower angle terrain or
on slopes that obviously slid during the storm.
If you have trouble determining which slopes have slid, stick to
the lower angle terrain, especially on the on the shady half of the compass.
Bottom Line: There
is a MODERATE danger on any slope steeper than about 35 degrees,
especially northwest through east facing slopes, that has not recently
slid. This means that there are
localized areas where dangerous human triggered avalanches are possible. Even on steep slopes that have recently slid,
there is a MODERATE danger in terrain with recent deposits of wind
drifted snow. People without excellent backcountry travel skills should
continue to stay off of and out from below terrain steeper than about 35
degrees, especially on northwest through east facing slopes or any slope with
recent drifts of wind blown snow.
Mountain Weather:
A
weak disturbance moving across northern
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.
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