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Avalanche advisory
Wednesday, March 23,
2005
Good morning, this is Evelyn Lees with the
Avalanche control will
be done in
Current Conditions:
A moist spring storm
moved into northern
Avalanche
Conditions:
Avalanche activity reported from the
Today, there are definitely some
slopes you do not want to be riding or skiing on. The combination of heavy, dense snow, warmer
temperatures, and strong winds has created wind drifts that must be avoided on
steep slopes. Like yesterday, I expect
some of the wind drifts to be more stubborn than others, but they have the
potential to be large once they move. The
new snow will also have overloaded the buried weak layers of surface hoar and
facets on some slopes. These faceted
weak layers are most widespread on mid and upper elevation shady slopes, and if
you trigger a slide on one of these weak layers it could be 3 to 4’ deep. These slides can be triggered from a
distance, so be aware of what is above and to the side of you. Wet loose sluffs will be a problem at the
lower elevations today, below about 7,500’.
Bottom Line
(Salt Lake and Park City, Ogden, and Provo mountains)
The
avalanche danger is HIGH
on slopes approaching 35 degrees in steepness, facing northwest through
north through east or steep slopes having recent deposits of wind drifted snow. Avalanche can be triggered from below or from
a distance. The avalanche danger is much lower, MODERATE, in wind sheltered terrain or
on slopes less steep than about 35 degrees. There is a MODERATE danger of wet
loose sluffs at the lower elevations.
Danger Scale: http://www.avalanche.org/~uac/ed-scale.htm
Mountain Weather: (You can find the afternoon Weather Update here.)
A cold, moist upper level flow will remain over the western states through
Friday. Today, snow, heavy at times, with
an additional 9 to 12” possible. The southwesterly
winds will be in the 20 to 30 mph range, occasionally blowing a bit harder
across the higher peaks. Temperatures
will remain near 30 at 8,000’ and in the mid 20’s at 10,000’ until the cooler
air arrives sometime in the early afternoon.
Tonight, cloudy with another few inches of snow possible, and moderate
to strong westerly winds. Snow showers
will continue through Friday, with a break on Saturday.
The Powderbird
guides did not get out yesterday, and will not fly today.
If you are getting out, we
appreciate your snowpack and avalanche observations. Please call and leave a message at 524-5304
or 1-800-662-4140, or e-mail us at [email protected]. Fax is 524-6301. We try to update our early morning
avalanche activity report by around 5:30 am at 364-1591.
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.
I will update this advisory by
7:30 on Thursday morning.
Thanks for calling.