In partnership with: The Friends of the
Utah Avalanche Center, Utah Department of Public Safety Division of
Comprehensive Emergency Management,
To receive automated e-mail of these advisories, click HERE
Avalanche ADVISORY
Friday, December 03,
2004 7:30 Am
Good
morning, this is Drew Hardesty with the
Current Conditions:
Under
clear skies, inverted temperatures are in the teens along the ridgelines with
single digits in the basins and mountain valleys. With a shortwave passing to the north, winds
did pick up a bit overnight and 11,000’ northwesterly winds jumped to 20-25, gusting
to 30. These ought to diminish by midmorning. Sunny
aspects are now crusted, with the best riding found on the weakening surface
snow on the sheltered shady slopes.
Avalanche Conditions:
We
received another report of a skier triggered slide
on a northeast facing slope at 10,000’ that was 1.5’ deep and 70’ wide, running
on faceted grains above a harder crust. No
location was given. Many observers still
report collapsing in the snowpack on the buried November facet/crust layers, but
these are not triggering slides as they were only a few days ago. Despite the fact that the overall stability
has been increasing over the past few days, we’re far from being out of the
woods. Instead, we’re in a classic
pattern: we have clear skies, fast traveling and good riding conditions just a
few days after the avalanche cycle, but now the obvious signs of instability
are less apparent and yet it’s clear that a few booby traps remain, mostly in the
mid and upper elevation shady slopes that haven’t run yet.
Lastly,
last night’s northwest winds may have created some new sensitive wind drifts in
the upper elevations.
Bottom Line: There
is a MODERATE danger on any slope steeper than about 35 degrees, especially
northwest through easterly facing slopes, that has not recently slid. This means that there are localized areas
where you can still trigger an avalanche.
There’s also a MODERATE danger on any steep slope with recent deposits of
wind drifted snow.
Mountain Weather:
We’ll
have mostly clear skies with a few high clouds thrown in the mix. 8000’ highs will be in the low 30’s with
10,000’ temps in the mid-twenties. Winds
should be light and northerly. Tonight
the winds should back to the southwest ahead of the next system slated for
Sunday.
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.
Evelyn
Lees will update this advisory by 7:30 Saturday morning, and thanks for
calling.
____________________________________________________________________