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Avalanche advisory
Monday, February 28,
2005
Good morning, this is Drew Hardesty with the
Current Conditions:
With mostly clear skies under a waning gibbous moon, mountain temperatures are
in the teens and low twenties. The
highest, most exposed ridgelines have winds in the 15-20mph range, but these
are the exception to the calm to light winds in most locations. A corn cycle in its infancy paints the sunny
side with alternating wind board and recrystallized powder on the protected
slopes.
Avalanche Conditions:
Explosive testing by the Powderbirds in the Provo Mountains yielded substantial
activity on northwest through east aspects, with starting zones from 8800 to
above 10,000. They averaged 2-3 deep,
with some up to 300 wide, with most stepping into old snow, clearly indicating
that in the Provo mountains, and to a lesser extent in the central Wasatch, the
mid-pack weaknesses are still present and potentially sensitive. In the Western Uintas, a skier triggered a
rode a 2.5 x 75 wide hard slab 400
on a westerly facing slope at 9800. Like
a bad cough or visiting mother in law that wont go away, these lingering persistent
weak layers will continue to pose a problem in isolated spots. It will still be possible for a backcountry
traveler to trigger one of these avalanches in shady mid and upper elevations
in shallower rocky terrain, and may be more sensitive in areas that slid during
the January cycle.
Bottom Line (
While most terrain is in the LOW category, a MODERATE danger exists
on mid and upper elevation northwest through east facing slopes steeper than
about 35 degrees.
(http://www.avalanche.org/~uac/ed-scale.htm
for an explanation of avalanche danger ratings.)
Mountain Weather: (You can find the afternoon
Weather Update here.)
Itll be another beautiful day in the hills this morning with light
northwesterly winds and temperatures in the mid-twenties along the ridgelines
and in the mid-thirties at the mid-elevations.
A weakening weather system will push into the area this afternoon, increasing
the cloud cover. We could see 2-4 by tomorrow
afternoon.
Yesterday, Wasatch
Powderbird Guides flew in the Bountiful Sessions and Cascade area and today
will return and add American Fork to the ticket.
If you have any snow or
avalanche observations, call and leave a message at 524-5304 or 1-800-662-4140,
or e-mailing us at [email protected]. Fax is 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.
Brett Kobernik will update
this advisory by 7:30 on Tuesday morning.
Thanks for calling.
For an explanation of avalanche danger ratings:
http://www.avalanche.org/~uac/ed-scale.htm