Wasatc h
Cache National
Forest
In partnership with: The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Forecast Center, Utah Department of Public Safety Division of Comprehensive Emergency Management, Salt Lake County, and Utah State Parks
The Utah Avalanche
Center Home page is: http://www.avalanche.org/~uac/
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Avalanche advisory
Sunday,
December 19, 2004
Good Morning. This is Brett Kobernik with the
Free Beacon Rescue
Training Centers are now open at Snowbird and the Canyons. For more information go to
wasatchbackcountryrescue.org.
Current Conditions:
Above the valley fog skies
are clear this morning with temperatures in the mid 20’s at 10,000’. WNW winds are in the 15 mph range along the
ridge tops. There is a thick supportable
crust on southerly facing slopes with good corn conditions being reported. You will find dense settled powder on mid elevation
northerly aspects. There is an annoying
crust on all aspects below around 8000’ that makes the approaches and exits
quite tricky.
Avalanche Conditions:
Yesterday was another quiet day with no new avalanche activity reported. The slab
continues to gain strength as well as the buried weak layer from November. Although the snow pack is gaining strength, I
am still steering clear of steep slopes that have no sign of recent avalanche
activity. Given that the size of an
avalanche could still be large right now it’s best to give the snowpack some
more time to heal. This slab has taken
on hard slab characteristics in that it may let more then one or two people
cross it before it fractures. Continue
safe route finding techniques. Only
expose one person at a time to avalanche slopes and clear the runout zones at
the bottom.
Click HERE
for a generalized snow profile graphic
Bottom Line (SLC,
The avalanche danger remains MODERATE on slopes steeper than about 35
degrees, facing northwest thorough easterly aspects. This danger is most pronounced outside of the
Mountain Weather:
Today 10,000’ temperatures
will be in the low 30’s with winds from the west at around 15 mph picking up a
bit this afternoon. 8000’ temps will
climb into the low 40’s. A weak
disturbance will move through the area on Monday with little chance of
precipitation. On Tuesday a very cold
air mass with stronger north winds will move in. This system has a slightly better chance for
snow but storm totals don’t look to promising right now.
For more detailed weather
information visit the National Weather
Service web site.
Wasatch Powderbird Guides
flew in
To report backcountry snow
and avalanche conditions, especially if you observe or trigger an avalanche,
call (801) 524-5304 or 1-800-662-4140, or email to [email protected] or fax to
801-524-6301. The information in this
advisory is from the U.S. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its
content. This advisory describes general
avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.
Drew Hardesty will update this advisory by 7:30 on Monday
morning.
Thanks for calling!
________________________________________________________________________
For an explanation of
avalanche danger ratings: