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
Monday,
December 20, 2004
Good morning, this is Drew
Hardesty with the
Free Beacon Rescue
Training Centers are now open at Snowbird and the Canyons. For more information go to
wasatchbackcountryrescue.org.
Current Conditions:
Under mostly clear skies,
mountain temperatures are in the mid to low twenties. With a system passing by to the northeast,
the west to northwest winds picked up overnight and the more exposed weather
stations show sustained wind speeds of 30-45 mph. The winds pushed into the mid-elevations as
well with averages of 10-15mph. As far
as snow surface conditions go, I figure calling the backcountry conditions variable might be a bit too kind.
Avalanche Conditions:
It’s been a full week since any reported human trigged activity in
the backcountry and most temperature profiles and stability tests seem to back
this up, at least in the tri-canyons. In
the outlying areas, such as the Provo, Ogden, and Park City mountains, the weak
layers, buried about a foot or two down, are a little slower to heal. Regardless, I might still recommend against
holding a Chinese downhill on some of the more open slopes in the backcountry,
instead opting for more conservative travel rituals. In the meantime, the clear skies over the
past week has instigated the development of facets and some surface hoar on the
surface of the snowpack in some of the more protected shady slopes – something to
catalog before the next storm system. Lastly, while there’s not a lot of snow available for
transport, the winds may have produced a few new drifts that may crack out
under the weight of a person.
Click HERE
for a generalized snow profile graphic
Bottom Line (SLC,
The avalanche danger is LOW in most areas. A MODERATE danger remains on slopes steeper than
about 35 degrees, facing the northwest thorough easterly aspects. This danger may be more pronounced outside of
the Tri Canyons as well as in steep, shallow, rocky areas.
Mountain Weather:
We’ll see a few more clouds
streaming in from the northwest today ahead of a series of mostly weak storms
lined up for the week. 8000’ highs will
be in the mid-thirties with 10,000’ temperatures dropping to the high teens by
mid-afternoon. The west to northwest
winds should remain strong this morning, dropping to the 15-25 mph range this
afternoon. Our best shot of snow looks
to be Tuesday night into Wednesday, but these low density amounts should be
sub-advisory. It’ll be a return to
spring next weekend. I’ll have our mountain weather forecast
out by about noon.
Wasatch Powderbird Guides
flew in American Fork yesterday, and if they get out today, will head back to
AF, Cascade, and Snake Creek.
Early birds and
snow geeks can catch our more detailed
information line at 364-1591. It’s
usually out by 6am
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.
Evelyn Lees will update this advisory by 7:30 on Tuesday
morning.
Thanks for calling!
________________________________________________________________________
For an explanation of avalanche
danger ratings: