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
Thursday, December 22, 2005 7:30am
Good morning,
this is Brett Kobernik with the
Check out our new graphical advisory format. You can update your bookmarks to this link:
http://www.avalanche.org/~uac/newadvisory/advisory.php
We will publish both this text-based advisory as well as the new graphical
version so you can choose which one you prefer.
Let us know about any formatting problems.
The beacon locator park at Snowbird is now open and free to the public. It’s sponsored by Wasatch Backcountry Rescue
and Snowbird and located just off the bypass road in upper Little Cottonwood
Canyon.
Current Conditions:
A warm and windy storm is starting to affect the
Avalanche Conditions:
No avalanche activity was reported from Wednesday and most people were not
finding any collapsing within the snowpack either. Even though the snowpack seems to be mostly
stable, one of our observers put it best by saying it’s hard to trust.
The first concern for today will be fresh snow and
wind drifts. I think the new snow should
bond fairly well to the old surface however, whenever there are significant
winds with new snowfall we need to pay attention to any potential
drifting. Perform slope cuts on any test
slopes you can find. Jump on obvious
drifts that are in safe terrain to see how they react.
My next concern has to do with the extended period
of warm
temperatures we are experiencing. I
would avoid any steep slopes especially terrain traps at lower elevations that
have damp, loose snow. Look for rollerballs and pin wheeling which are signs of wet snow. Poke your hand or ski pole into the snow to
see if it is damp and loose. If you are
finding these conditions, stay off of steep slopes.
Bottom
Line:
There is a MODERATE danger today of triggering a fresh wind slab along
the upper elevation ridgelines. There is
also a MODERATE
danger of wet avalanches below about 7000’ to 8000’ feet.
Mountain Weather:
Light snow is falling in the mountains.
1 to 3 inches is expected this morning with scattered showers possible
through the afternoon. Ridgetop
temperatures will drop into the upper 20s during the snowfall and winds will
continue to be blustery in the 20 to 30 mph range this morning then tapering
off a bit this afternoon.
Another warm storm system will affect the mountains
of northern
High pressure sets in for the weekend and into
Monday.
Regional
Snow Profile (this profile can also be
found daily off our home page under avalanche products)
Click here for Seasonal Weather History Charts.
Yesterday,
Wasatch Powderbird Guides were in
We
appreciate any backcountry snow and avalanche conditions you observe. Call (801) 524-5304 or 1-800-662-4140, email [email protected] or fax 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.)
UDOT also has a highway avalanche control work
hotline for Little Cottonwood road, which is updated as needed. 801-975-4838.
The annual report for 2004-05 is now on the web.
(Click HERE,
8mb)
Evelyn Lees will
update this advisory by 7:30 Friday morning.
Thanks for calling.