Wasatch Cache National Forest
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 Salt Lake County.

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AVALANCHE ADVISORY

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Wednesday, November 22, 2006 7:30 am
Good morning, this is Evelyn Lees with the Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center. Today is Wednesday, November 22, 2006 and it’s 7:30 in the morning.

UDOT will do artillery avalanche control work in Big Cottonwood Canyon from approximately 9:30 am to 1 pm today with intermittent road closures. Please stay clear of the Stairs and Kessler slide paths. Click this message for details.

Current Conditions:

The ridiculously warm weather continues, with temperatures this morning in the 30’s in the central Wasatch, and the mid 40’s at 8,500’ in the Provo and Ogden mountains. The southwesterly winds are decreasing, and are generally less than 15 mph. Across the highest ridgelines, speeds are still brisk, in the 25 to 35 mph range. Dry soft snow remains on the shady slopes at the higher elevations, but the rest of the snowpack is getting hammered by the warm temperatures and yesterday’s winds. Most of the snow surface is crusted or damp, and the snotel snow depths throughout the Wasatch have shrunk into the 1 to 2’ range.

Snowpack and Avalanche Conditions:

Very few people were in the backcountry yesterday, and no avalanche activity was reported. The only problem area remains on the upper elevation, shady slopes where snowpits yesterday continue to show that the loose, sugary facets near the ground remain weak. I suspect that there are still a few isolated places where a person could trigger a slide on this weak layer, on steep, shady slopes above about 9,500’ in the Salt Lake, Park City and Provo area mountains. Most of the terrain in the Ogden area mountains is below 9,500’ and has no faceted snow.

Bottom Line:

Most slopes have a LOW avalanche danger today. However, a MODERATE danger still exists on northwest, north and northeast facing slopes above about 9,500 feet that are steeper than about 35 degrees.

Mountain Weather:

A southwest flow will remain over the area today, with mid and high level clouds increasing this afternoon. Temperatures will reach the upper 40’s at 8,000’ and remain near freezing at 10,000’. Mostly cloudy skies tonight, with a fast moving storm reaching the northern mountains Thanksgiving morning. Snow is expected to be in the 3 to 5” range, and temperatures will cool significantly, into the teens at 10,000’. Another storm system will bring a chance for snow on Monday.

Announcements:

Our partners, the FUAC, will hold their next fundraiser at Brewvies on Dec 7^th. There will be two showings of TGR’s new film, “The Anomaly”, at 7pm and 9pm. Advance tickets are available.

We appreciate any snowpack and avalanche observations, so please let us know by calling (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.

Our staff will update this advisory by 7:30 on Wednesday morning and thanks for calling.