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
Saturday,
February 25, 2006 7:30am
Good morning, this is Evelyn Lees with
the
There are several free
automated avalanche beacon practice areas open, including one at Canyons, one
on the by-pass road near Snowbird and one in the northwest corner of the lower
lot at Solitude. They are really easy to
use, and well worth stopping for a quick practice session.
Current Conditions:
There is a strong feeling of spring in the
air, with the sun high in the sky and warm daytime temperatures. This morning, skies are clear, and mountain temperatures
have cooled into the teens to low 20’s. Winds
are light, less than 15 mph at all stations.
If you tiptoe around old tracks, sun and wind damage, there is still fine
dry powder to be found on the very shady, wind sheltered slopes. The sunny slopes have a wide variety of
supportable and breakable crusts, which soften with daytime heating. A small arsenal of skin wax, sun screen, and
other spring time accoutrements will help your day go more smoothly.
Avalanche Conditions:
A few small sluffs and one explosive
triggered wind slab in a ski area (10” deep by 80’ wide, east facing, 10,200’) are
the sum total of avalanches reported yesterday.
Also, sometime during the past 2 days, a natural cornice fall in Mineral
Fork triggered a long running slab/sluff that went full distance and filled the
creek bottom 8 feet deep.
Today, there are still a few places where
a person could trigger an old wind slabs on a steep slope. Though small, they could easily knock you off
balance, and if you’re in steep terrain, send you for a ride or off a cliff. Dry sluffs can also be triggered on steep
shady slopes.
On the steep, sunny slopes, it will be
possible to trigger loose, wet sluffs as the day heats up and the snow gets damp
and sloppy. Again, the type of terrain
you’re in matters – don’t get caught above cliffs or on very steep slopes where
even a small sluff can send you for a ride. Avoid terrain traps such as gullies
where even those undersized sluffs can pile up deeply. In addition to the sunny slopes, the snow on mid
and lower elevation shady slopes will also get damp today. With several days of
heating, cornices are becoming sensitive and there is a greater chance for
glide avalanches to release.
Bottom Line:
Today, the avalanche danger is mostly LOW. There are pockets of MODERATE
danger on slopes steeper than 35 degrees where it may still be possible to
trigger an old drift of wind blown snow. The avalanche danger will also increase to MODERATE on and below steep, sunny slopes with day time
heating, where wet, loose sluffs will be possible.
Mountain Weather:
High
pressure will strengthen across the region today and tomorrow, bringing warm
temperatures and mostly sunny skies.
Highs today will be near 40 at 8,000’ and in the mid 20’s at 10,000’. Winds will shift to the southwest and remain
light, less than 15 mph. Sunday will be warm
and breezy. The Tuesday night storm is
looking a bit weaker on the latest model runs, but should still provide a small
shot of snow, and will be followed by another storm late in the week.
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
Yesterday,
Wasatch Powderbird Guides flew in
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.
Drew Hardesty will update this advisory by 7:30 Sunday morning. Thanks for calling.