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
Sunday,
January 08, 2006 7:30am
Good morning, this is Drew Hardesty 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
Current Conditions:
The first in a series of weak Pacific storms moved through yesterday and
overnight, producing 3-5” in the
Avalanche Conditions:
While no avalanches were reported from the backcountry yesterday,
explosive work in the Cottonwoods did pry out a couple hard slabs 1-3’ deep in
upper elevation north facing terrain.
With plenty of snow to blow around, you can expect to find localized
soft and hard slabs in the mid and high starting zones, some of which may be
buried under a couple inches of snow.
Further complicating things will be the unusual loading patterns from
the strong and gusty southwest, west, and northwest winds. Be suspicious of cross loaded gullies,
unsupported slopes, and steep rocky areas.
Remember that hard slabs may allow a person to get way out onto the
slope before it pulls out. It’ll be one
of those tricky MODERATE days – use all the tricks up your sleeve if in drifted
terrain: drop a few cornices, practice safe slope cuts, jump on some test
slopes, and isolate a few columns to see how well things may or may not be
welded in. Lastly, watch for changing
conditions with continued wind loading and light snowfall.
Bottom Line:
The avalanche danger is MODERATE on steep mid
and upper elevation wind drifted slopes.
Human triggered avalanches will be possible.
Mountain Weather:
We’ll have a slight break in the weather about midday, but otherwise
we’ll have snow showers this morning and again this afternoon. The winds will be out of the west northwest
at 20-30mph with gusty conditions along the high ridges. 8000’ highs will be in the upper teens with
10,000’ temps dropping to near 10 degrees.
High pressure moves in for tomorrow and Tuesday with a promising looking
system slated for late Wednesday.
Other mountain weather information can be found here.
Regional
Snow Profile (this profile can also be
found daily off our home page under avalanche products)
Click here for Seasonal Weather History Charts.
Announcements and
Miscellaneous:
3rd Annual Backcountry Awareness Week Monday Jan 30-Sunday
February 5
Fundraising Dinner February
3rd at 6pm with speakers Conrad Anker and Apa Sherpa. For more info, go to www.backcountryawareness.com or
call Snowbird at 922-2147.
The
Wasatch Powderbird Guides didn’t get out yesterday, and likely won’t get out
today. For more info, call 742-2800.
Please
report any backcountry snow and avalanche conditions. 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.
I will update
this advisory by 7:30 Monday morning. Thanks for calling.