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/
To receive automated e-mails of this advisory click HERE.
Avalanche advisory
Friday,
December 31, 2004
Good morning, this is Brett
Kobernik with the
Current Conditions:
Yesterday temperatures cooled
to around 15 degrees at 10,000’ with continued southerly winds around 25 mph with
higher gusts. It is still windy this morning at all elevations. The upper ends of the Cottonwood Canyons
picked up 3 to 4 inches during the day yesterday with around 8 inches overnight
in the
Avalanche Conditions:
Yesterday, backcountry travelers
intentionally kicked off several wind slabs, mostly along the upper elevation
ridges in places that got the most snow over the last two days. These areas
include places like the upper parts of
The bigger news is that the
storm today and tonight should make things very interesting. Yesterday, many places did not have quite enough
weight to get a natural avalanche cycle going, but tonight’s storm may be enough
to push many slopes over the edge. Click
HERE
for a current snow profile graphic.
Bottom Line:
Today, the avalanche danger is
CONSIDERABLE,
and will most likely rise to HIGH by this
afternoon, tonight and on New Year’s Day.
We will most likely upgrade the Special Avalanche Advisory to an Avalanche
Warning this afternoon as the storm intensifies. People without excellent avalanche skills
should avoid avalanche terrain today, tonight and tomorrow. This means that you should stay off of, and
out from underneath, slopes of about 35 degrees or steeper today and around 30
degrees or less for tonight and New Year’s Day.
Mountain Weather:
Strong south winds will
continue to blow in the 30’s with temperatures around 20 degrees at 10,000’. Snow should fall throughout the day with heavy
snow this afternoon and evening as a cold front moves through around dinner
time. Winds will shift from the south to
the southwest and continue to blow hard.
Snow will continue into Saturday with up to 2’ feet forecasted in areas
favored by a southwest flow.
There will be a slight break
on Saturday with winds decreasing. Snow
showers may continue during the day. Yet
another storm should arrive around Saturday night and last into Monday.
The Wasatch Powderbird Guides
did not fly yesterday because of weather and most likely will not fly
today. If they do they will be in
Registration for
the Friends of the
Free Beacon Rescue
Training Centers are now open at Snowbird and the Canyons. For more information go to
wasatchbackcountryrescue.org.
We do an early morning update
around 6am each day on the 364-1591 line.
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
Saturday morning.
Thanks for calling
________________________________________________________________________
For an explanation of
avalanche danger ratings: