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,
February 28, 2006 7:30am
Good morning, this is Brett Kobernik 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:
Warm temperatures and VERY windy
conditions headline the news from Monday.
Mountain temperatures are above freezing at all but the highest
locations. The wind event from over the
last 48 hours may be the most notable of the season. Gusts into the 70s & 80s at the highest
locations might not grab your attention but speeds near 50 on Tom’s Hill should.
Tom’s is at an elevation of 8,500’ in
Big Cottonwood. Gusts into the 30s have
also been recorded at the town of
Avalanche Conditions:
He reported an avalanche (Photo
1, Photo
2) that was triggered by some skiers who illegally left the Sundance ski
area and went up to ski the Finger Chutes above the resort. After the first skier had skied
the slope, the second skier triggered a wind slab but was not caught. It ran about 1000 feet vertical
distance. These folks were lucky to
avoid a nasty ride and also law enforcement down below. (Slide details)
As far as current snowpack conditions,
warm temperatures and strong winds helped change most of our loose snow on the
surface from surface hoar and near surface facets to a more friendly snow grain
that won’t be as weak when we add snow on top of it. However, many crusts have formed so we’ll
need to pay attention to the initial bonding of the new snow we are expecting to
receive today and tonight. Also, the
strong winds have formed some spotty hard and soft wind drifts that may be
sensitive to the weight of a person and especially to the weight of a snowmobile. The winds will continue for a good portion of
the day and the new snow will cover up many of the obvious drifts that
formed. It would be best to avoid the
steeper ridgelines for a few days to allow some time for the snowpack to adjust
to these new drifts. In some areas,
these drifts have the potential to be very thick.
With the warm temperatures over the last
few days, the lower elevation snow has become damp and manky. It’s possible to initiate wet slides on steep
lower elevation terrain. With spring
approaching, we need to start paying attention to terrain traps and steep
convex rolls on a daily basis as the potential for slides will become more
regular at lower elevations.
Bottom Line:
The avalanche danger remains MODERATE on any slope
steeper than 35 degrees with recent deposits of wind drifted snow. The avalanche danger will increase today and
tonight. Also, avoid steep areas where
the snow is damp and mucky.
Mountain Weather:
Temperatures
should start to cool soon and continue downward throughout the day finally
getting into the mid 20s along the ridges by tonight. Winds will continue to blow in the strong
range for a good portion of the day from the southwest and slow somewhat
tonight but will still be in the 30 mph range from a west southwest
direction. We’ll see mostly cloudy skies
with some snow during the day which should pick up late this afternoon or evening. Models are showing up to an inch of water and
we expect 6 to 12 inches of snow by Wednesday morning.
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
The
Wasatch Powderbird Guides were in American Fork and Cascade on Monday and
probably won’t get out today but if possible they’ll be in Cardiff, Days,
Silver, Grizzly, White Pine and American Fork.
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 Wednesday morning.
Thanks for calling.