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
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AVALANCHE ADVISORY
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Thursday,
November 30, 2006 7:30 am
Good morning, this is Brett Kobernik with
the
UDOT in
Current Conditions:
Winds on Wednesday
picked up a bit and blew snow around in the upper elevation terrain. Mountain temperatures are warming into the
single digits. Northwest winds are currently
blowing in the 5 to 10 mph range along the ridges with gusts into the 20s. Skies are partly cloudy. Total snow depths to the ground range from 1-2
feet in the
Snowpack and Avalanche Conditions:
No new avalanche activity was reported from Wednesday. There was one report of a natural avalanche
that probably released on Tuesday which was on a north facing slope on Mt
Superior in Big Cottonwood canyon. It
was 60 to 100 feet wide and ran a couple hundred feet. The weak layer was not confirmed but could
have been a poor bond between the new snow and an old wind crust.
The breezy north winds did transport some snow on Wednesday. This made the newest snow a bit thicker and
did form some fresh drifts. These drifts
did not seem very sensitive by the end of Wednesday but you should approach any
fresh drifts with caution. You’ll find these mainly on northeast through south facing upper
elevation slopes. With ridgetop winds
expected to increase a bit today, continue to keep an eye out for fresh wind
drifts. You can test these drifts by
stomping on them in safe terrain to see if they crack. Slope cuts would be another appropriate tool
to use today. It would be easy to get
complacent with the stable snow from the last 2 days but don’t let your guard
down.
Bottom Line:
The avalanche danger
is MODERATE on upper elevation slopes steeper
than about 35 degrees with recent deposits of wind drifted snow. Moderate means human triggered avalanches are
possible. Most areas out of wind affected
terrain have a LOW danger.
Mountain Weather:
Today we’ll see increasing
clouds with mountain temperatures warming to around 20 degrees. Ridgetop winds will blow in the 10 to 15 mph
range with gusts in the 20s and should increase during the day. Gusts may reach 50 mph at the most exposed
locations. A small system will affect
the mountains of northern
Announcements:
UDOT in
Our
partners, the FUAC, will hold their next fundraiser at
Brewvies on Dec 7th. 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 you have, 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.
I will update this
advisory by 7:30 on Friday morning and thanks for calling.