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Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Good morning, this is Evelyn
Lees with the
Snowbird is
hosting the 2nd annual Backcountry Avalanche Awareness Week, now
through February 7th as a benefit for the
Current Conditions:
A weak disturbance is
moving through northern
Avalanche Conditions:
Today’s avalanche problems
are near the surface. I expect the gusty,
northerly winds to whip up fresh new wind drifts, which will be sensitive to
the weight of a person on steep slopes. These
drifts will be most widespread along the higher ridges, but look for cross
loading and drifting off the ridges and around terrain features such as gully
walls, sub ridges and breakovers. It’s
best to avoid any wind drifts on steep slopes, or with experience, approach
them from the top with careful slope cuts.
Yesterday it was possible to trigger shallow, fast running sluffs on protected,
steep shady slopes, which had just enough mass to knock you off balance or even
take you for a ride. Today’s mostly cloudy
skies and cooler temperatures should put a lid on any wet activity.
Bottom Line (
The avalanche
danger is LOW on most slopes. There is a MODERATE
danger on any steep slope with recent deposits of wind drifted snow, and for loose
snow sluffs on steep shady slopes.
Moderate means human triggered avalanches are possible.
Mountain Weather:
The weak weather disturbance
has brought cloudy skies and a few snow showers to the northern mountains. The northwesterly winds will be in the 15 to
25 mph range this morning, with gusts to 45 mph. This afternoon, there will be partial clearing
with the winds shifting to the northeast and decreasing. Temperatures will be in the mid teens at 10,000’
and the upper 20’s at 8,000’. Skies will
be partly cloudy tonight, with lows near 10 and moderate northeasterly winds. High pressure will rule for the rest of the
week, with light winds and a warming trend.
Then there is a chance for a pattern change to colder and more unsettled
weather around Sunday, but model differences continue.
Yesterday Powderbird
Guides were in AF and Cascade, and if they can fly today will be in Mineral,
Early birds can catch our
6am report at 364-1591. We also use this
line for additional avalanche and weather reporting on an as-needed basis.
If you trigger or see any
avalanches, please call and leave a message at 524-5304, or 1-800-662-4140, or
e-mail us at [email protected].
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.
Brett Kobernik will update this advisory by 7:30 on Wednesday
morning.
Thanks for calling
For an explanation of
avalanche danger ratings:
http://www.avalanche.org/~uac/ed-scale.htm