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
Wednesday,
March 01, 2006 7:30am
Good morning, this is Evelyn Lees with
the
Current Conditions:
Yesterday’s vigorous storm tapped into
tropical moisture, resulting in an all day rain event below about 8,500’. The cold front finally arrived around 5pm,
dropping the snow line to the valley floor.
Above about 9,000’, 7 to 11” of dense, graupel laden snow fell in the
Cottonwoods, with a water content of 1 to 1 ¾ inches. The lower elevations of the
Above about 9,000’ turning and riding
conditions will be very good today, with the dense snow filling in the old
tracks out of the wind scoured areas. I
would give the lower elevations a miss, due to the damp to wet snow, which may
crusted in some areas.
Avalanche Conditions:
The heavy, persistent rain at the low
elevations finally pushed the already warm snow pack over the edge. Below about 8,000’ there were lots of natural
wet loose sluffs yesterday, especially on north through east facing slopes. (Photo
1, Photo2,
Photo
3) On the
At the upper elevations, the new snow wind
drifts may be sensitive today. These
drifts will be along the ridgelines, but also off the ridgelines and cross
loaded around terrain features such as gully walls and mid slope breakovers due
to strong winds. There may also be a few
surprises out there – a few old buried wind drifts that could still be
sensitive or a slab that breaks a few inches deeper into old dry snow. So as always after a windy storm event,
approach steep terrain with caution, and test your stability theories. Jump on test slopes, do some quick pits,
place careful slope cuts, and asses each steep slope individually.
Bottom Line:
Above about 8,500’, the avalanche danger is MODERATE
on slopes steeper than about 35 degrees, especially with recent deposits of
wind drifted snow. There is also a MODERATE avalanche danger for wet loose sluffs on steep
slopes of all aspects below about 8,500’ and on steep sunny slopes as the day
heats up.
Mountain Weather:
The
departing storm may leave a few clouds in its wake, but skies should clear by
afternoon in most areas. Winds are
shifting to the west, and will decrease to less than 10 mph. Temperatures will be near freezing at 8,000’
and in the upper teens at 10,000’. Clear
and cool tonight, with lows near 20. A quiet weather day on Thursday, with winds becoming strong again
on Friday ahead of the next storm system.
Announcements:
Here
is a great link to a web site on avalanche beacon information, created by a
person who did independent research and testing of avalanche beacons. http://beaconreviews.com/transceivers/index.htm
Click here to check out our new online avalanche
encyclopedia.
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.
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 did not fly yesterday, today they’ll be 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.