Wasatch Cache National Forest
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 Salt Lake County.

AVALANCHE ADVISORY

Friday, February 24, 2006 7:30am
Good morning, this is Brett Kobernik with the Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center with your backcountry avalanche and mountain weather advisory. Today is Friday, February 24, 2006, and it’s about 7:30 am.

Current Conditions:

Under clear skies this morning, ridgetop temperatures are in the mid teens to low 20s and ridgetop wind speeds are 10 to 15 mph from the west with gusts to around 30 at the most exposed locations.

Avalanche Conditions:

There was some avalanche activity on Thursday. First, warmer temperatures and direct sun produced some wet point release slides on southeast through southwest facing slopes. These were both natural and human triggered but didn’t get large enough to pose a great threat. Next, on the colder aspects there were a few fresh wind drifts that released both naturally and by human triggers. The natural activity was reported from the Ogden area with the largest reported as a class 2 avalanche that ran 600 vertical feet. The human triggered slide was from east facing Pioneer Peak that surprised a couple of snowboarders. It was around 35 feet wide, less then 12 inches deep and ran a couple hundred feet, no one was caught.

For today, we need to watch for two types of avalanching. First, southerly facing slopes will heat up again and could produce some wet activity. These slides will be in the form of point releases and probably won’t get real big but you will want to pay attention especially afternoon when temperatures will be the warmest.

Second, lingering shallow wind drifts may still be sensitive to the weight of a person. You will most likely find these along the upper ridgelines on steep terrain with an easterly component. On Thursday, I did find some drifts in the mid elevations on other aspects that had been cross loaded but these were not sensitive. Just be aware that you may find these wind drifts today and make sure to approach them cautiously. Watch for cracking as you travel which indicates a more sensitive wind slab that may avalanche if the slope is steep enough.

Bottom Line:

Today, the avalanche danger is MODERATE on slopes steeper than 35 degrees with recent drifts of wind blown snow. Out of the wind affected terrain, the avalanche danger is mostly LOW. Also, today there is a MODERATE danger of wet, loose sluffs as temperatures rise during the mid day.

Mountain Weather:

We’ll see mostly clear skies with ridgetop temperatures in the mid 20’s and ridgetop winds from the west in the 10 to 15 mph range. Saturday should be similar then temperatures warm a bit more for Sunday and Monday with windy conditions on Monday. A storm is scheduled for Tuesday that should bring snow to most of the mountains of Utah.

Announcements:

Click here to check out our new online avalanche encyclopedia.

Early birds and snow geeks can catch our 6AM report at 364-1591.

Click HERE for a text only version of the avalanche advisory.

To have this advisory automatically e-mailed to you each day, click HERE.

UDOT also has a highway avalanche control work hotline for Big Cottonwood, Little Cottonwood, and Provo canyons, which is updated as needed. 801-975-4838.

Yesterday, Wasatch Powderbird Guides flew in Cardiff, Mineral, Days, Grizzly, and American Fork. Today they will be in Mineral, Cardiff, Days, Silver, Gobblers, White Pine, American Fork and Cascade. On Saturday, they will not fly anywhere in the Tri-canyon area. 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.

Evelyn Lees will update this advisory by 7:30 Saturday morning. Thanks for calling.