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,
April 15, 2006 7:30 am
Good morning, this is Drew Hardesty with
the
Current Conditions:
With last night’s initial rain/snow
line at about 9500’, you’ll want to start high and stay high. As of 6am, 6-8” of 12% density snow blankets
the upper reaches of the Wasatch. The sad,
soggy mid and low elevations are suffering through a half inch to an inch of
rain. The winds are westerly at 15-20mph
at 10,000’ with the highest peaks registering a couple hours of 30mph.
Recent Avalanche Activity & Snowpack Discussion:
The new snow should bond
well to the old warm, rough underlying snow surfaces, while the low and mid elevations
will be problematic for backcountry travelers.
You’ll want to avoid being on any steep unsupportable, saturated slope,
particularly ones with a terrain trap at the bottom. Avoid moving through gulleys with steep slopes
above. The drainage channels within the
snowpack are fair, but far from mature. With
all the precipitation, wet point release, slab, and glide
avalanches will be more likely today.
In any event, if you are moving through these areas, use good route
finding and safe travel skills.
Bottom Line:
Above 9500’, the danger will be MODERATE with the
storm snow. Mid and low elevations will also
have a CONSIDERABLE
danger. If the sun pokes out this
afternoon, the wet activity will rise on all sun-exposed slopes.
Mountain Weather:
I was hoping for a good dry
cold Arctic Front, but you take what you get.
Showers will continue for a few more hours this morning as the tail end
of the system moves off to the east. Skies
will be mostly cloudy with westerly winds 15-20mph. 8000’ temps will reach into the low 40’s with
10,000’ highs just below 30 degrees. The
flow will increase and back to the southwest tomorrow ahead of another
winter-style cold-front early Monday.
Announcements:
The second annual “Beacon and Eggs” contests are
in full swing, with BIG prizes to the winners.
The next big event is this morning at Snowbird. For
more information, go to http://www.snowbird.com/events/events/beaconandeggs.html
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 didn’t fly yesterday and may try to get into
Silver, Days,
Special announcement:
The
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 will update this advisory by
7:30 Sunday morning. Thanks for calling.