In partnership with: Utah Division of State
Parks and Recreation, The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center, Utah Department
of Emergency Services and Homeland Security and
AVALANCHE ADVISORY
Tuesday, December 06, 2005 7:30am
Good morning,
this is Brett Kobernik with the
Up coming avalanche awareness talks by the UAC
staff include:
Dec 6 7 pm Full Throttle Power Sports 240 N Frontage Rd, Centerville
Dec 6 7 pm Black Diamond Retail 2092 E 3900 S, SLC
Dec 7 7 pm Lady of the Snows, Alta
Dec 13 7 pm REI, 3285 E, 3300 S,
SLC
Dec 14 6:60 pm Mnt High Motorsports, 8262 S Redwood Rd, West
Jordan
Dec 14 7 pm South Valley Unitarian,
6876 S Highland Dr.
Current Conditions:
As a storm system approaches, ridgetop temperatures are dipping into the single
digits with ridge top winds around 20 mph from the northwest with gusts into
the 50s at the more exposed locations.
Snow is just starting to fall in the mountains.
Avalanche Conditions:
It looks like we
dodged a bullet over the last week. With
plenty of weak snow deeper in the pack, we never received a large enough new load at a rapid enough rate for things to come totally
unglued. However, no avalanche worker
that I know has dismissed the buried faceted snow as of now. This problem remains a concern for
today. With a lot of folks out yesterday
reporting improved stability, you can still find areas where the snowpack is
collapsing. This is a sure sign of
unstable snow. This problem is most
pronounced in areas that had a thin snowpack prior to Thanksgiving. You also may still find some problems in thin
areas of the upper Cottonwoods where the snowpack is the deepest, but, the
problem is more “pockety” in nature there.
You will also want to pay attention to drifting of
the new snow that will fall during the day.
The new snow will be light density but with gusty winds, this snow can
get blown into thick drifts that could be sensitive to the weight of a person.
Bottom Line:
The avalanche
danger is MODERATE
however, keep in mind that triggering an avalanche that breaks into older snow
could be disastrous. Also, the danger
will be on the rise during the day with the new snow and gusty winds expected. Watch for cracking in fresh drifts especially
along the upper ridges on northeast through southeast aspects.
Mountain Weather:
You’ll want to
bundle up and hang on to your hats as ridgetop temperatures will remain in the
single digits with ridgetop wind speeds from the northwest in the 20 to 25 mph
range. Strong winds will not be as
pronounced lower in the drainages. Snow
will fall throughout the day with 4 to 8 inches possible. The artic air mass moves in tonight dropping
ridgetop temperatures to around zero.
This cold period will be short lived and temperatures will warm Thursday
as a ridge of high pressure sets in.
Seasonal Weather History Charts. (NOTE: USE INTERNET EXPLORER FOR BEST VIEWING)
Please
report any backcountry snow and avalanche conditions you observe. We appreciate all information. You can 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.
To
have this advisory automatically e-mailed to you each day, click HERE. (You must re-sign up this season even if you
were on the list last season.)
The annual report for 2004-05 is now on the web.
(Click HERE,
8mb)
Evelyn
Lees will update this advisory by 7:30 Wednesday morning. Thanks for calling.