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
Friday,
March 17, 2006 7:30 am
Good morning, this is Brett Kobernik with
the
Current Conditions:
Ridgetop winds picked up
from the south Thursday afternoon blowing in the 20 mph range with gusts into
the 30s. They appear to be slowing somewhat
now with ridgetop temperatures in the low 20s.
Under mostly cloudy skies, snow showers are occurring in the mountains
with accumulations of 1 to 2 inches. The
snow surface is a mix of settled powder, sun crusts, wind crusts and wind drifts
depending on elevation and aspect.
Recent Avalanche Activity & Snowpack Discussion:
No new avalanche activity
was reported from Thursday so let’s take a look back at the significant weather
events that shaped this week’s snowpack.
Last weekend we received a shot of light density snow that then got
whipped into drifts on Tuesday from a period of strong southerly winds. This produced a small natural avalanche
cycle. Wednesday the mountains received another
shot of snow especially the Cottonwoods where 14 to 20 inches of snow fell in a
very short period of time which produced another natural avalanche cycle. By Thursday, the new snow had settled and the
wind drifts from Tuesday were staying in place. Temperatures warmed Thursday
making the lower elevation snow become damp but left the upper elevations with
cold loose snow that was starting to drift as the winds picked up in the
afternoon which brings us up to now.
For today we will want to
watch for any fresh drifts that formed late Thursday and last night. You will mainly find these along the upper elevation
ridgelines on northerly facing slopes. Today
we will also want to watch for damp and wet activity at the lower
elevations. Avoid steep lower elevation
slopes and terrain traps as the snow becomes moist throughout the day. Cloud
cover today should keep a lid on solar heating on high elevation southerly
facing slopes but if it does break you will need to watch for activity here as
well.
Bottom Line:
This morning most areas have a LOW avalanche danger.
However, the avalanche danger is MODERATE on upper elevation northwest through northeast facing slopes
steeper than 35 degrees with recent deposits of wind drifted snow. The danger will also increase to MODERATE at lower elevations as the snow becomes damp from daytime
heating. You will need to watch high
elevation southerly slopes if we see some clearing this afternoon as well.
Mountain Weather:
A low pressure trof will affect
Announcements:
A completed report on the
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
There are several free automated avalanche
beacon practice areas open, including one at Canyons, one on the by-pass road
near Snowbird, one in the northwest corner of the lower lot at Solitude, and at
the Nobletts parking area in the western Uinta Mountains on the
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 flew in Days, Silver, Grizzly and American Fork
on Thursday and today weather permitting they’ll be in Cardiff, Mineral, Days,
Silver, 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.
I’ll update this advisory by
7:30 Saturday morning. Thanks for calling.