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,
March 07, 2006 7:30am
Good morning, this is Brett Kobernik with
the
Current Conditions:
The mountains of northern
Recent Avalanche Activity & Snowpack Discussion:
There are two distinct patterns that we
need to address today. The first is the
new snow that fell overnight. Some areas
are just finishing up a period of very intense snowfall with rates up to 4
inches an hour of very light density snow.
I would expect some natural activity to have occurred out of this period
which may be mostly loose snow avalanching.
This natural activity will probably be over with by the time most folks
get up into the high country but the snowpack will still need a little time to
adjust to the new snow load. Most of the
avalanches today will involve the new snow.
Watch for any cracking which indicates the presence of a slab which is a
more dangerous avalanche condition. Use
test slopes to tweak on the snow checking for weakness within it, or, at the
interface with the old snow. Slope cuts
should be an effective tool for dealing with the new snow today.
The second concern is avalanches breaking
into older snow. Below about 8500 feet there
is a very stout rain crust that will not allow failure below it. Once you get up into the 9000 foot range, things
get more complex with various rain and wind crusts, graupel layers and older
faceted snow as well. The higher you go,
the more likely you are to find a spot where you may trigger an avalanche
breaking into older snow especially on the most shaded north aspects. With the addition of the newest snow, the possible
size of these slides is getting a bit scary.
MORE
INFO
Bottom Line:
Most areas have a MODERATE danger especially
lower elevations and areas that received less snow. A CONSIDERABLE danger exists on upper elevation slopes
steeper then 35 degrees and in areas that received around a foot of snow.
Mountain Weather:
The majority of the snow has fallen and should taper off to showers
during the day with a few inches of snow accumulation possible. Ridgetop temperatures will drop into the
upper teens and ridgetop winds will be from the northwest in the 10 mph
range. Wednesday we should see partly
cloudy skies then another good shot of snow is expected on Thursday with more
chances through the weekend.
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
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 to check out our new online avalanche
encyclopedia.
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 get out yesterday and if possible will be in
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.