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
“keeping
you on top”
AVALANCHE ADVISORY
Tuesday,
December 12, 2006 7:30 am
Good morning, this is Brett Kobernik with
the
Bruce
Tremper will be speaking on ‘The Science of Avalanches’ Tonight
at 7pm at the SLC REI.
Current Conditions:
Under cloudy skies
with a few snow flurries, westerly winds picked up just slightly from Monday
and are blowing in the 5 to 15 mph range gusting into the 20s & 30s at the
most exposed locations. Ridgetop
temperatures dipped into the low teens overnight but are now back
up to around 20.
Snowpack and Avalanche Conditions:
Most people found the
new snow to be mostly stable on Monday.
Some sluffing occurred on steeper slopes and a few folks noted some
small sensitive slabs in upper elevation wind affected terrain. If you looked close you might have noticed a
slight weakness within the new snow. An
inch or so of very light density snow fell on Sunday morning with another layer
coming Sunday afternoon into Monday.
Shovel tilt tests revealed a weakness between these layers. (PHOTO) (Quicktime video, 5.3mb), It wasn’t significant enough
to produce any avalanching but with a little more snow and wind it may be
something to watch for.
We’ve now, also,
covered up our faceted snow from the last few weeks. The most recent snow load was neither stiff
enough nor heavy enough to overload it.
We won’t forget about it though. With
more snow expected over the next few days we have the potential to form a stiff
enough slab that may start to crack and collapse. In other words, we are under what you might
call a “slab watch”.
For today the main
concern is the potential for slab formation. With some snow in today’s forecast, slightly
warmer temperatures and any wind that could occur, it may not take a whole lot
to change the light fluffy snow into a slightly denser layer that is prone to
cracking. Pay close attention to any
cracking under your feet. Continue the
use of slope cuts and use test slopes to check for changing conditions.
Bottom Line:
For the
Mountain Weather:
We should see a shot
of snow this morning that may produce a few inches then potential showers
throughout the day. Ridgetop
temperatures will be in the low 20s and ridgetop winds will be in the 10 to 20
mph range with gusts into the 30s and gusting into the 40s and 50s at the most
exposed locations. Another 3 to 6 inches
of snow is possible tonight and a few more disturbances through the week with
the northern most mountains receiving the most snow.
Announcements:
Listen to the
advisory. Try our new streaming audio or
podcasts
Our new,
state wide tollfree hotline is 1-888-999-4019.
(For early morning detailed avalanche activity report hit option 8)
For a list of avalanche
classes, click HERE
For our classic text
advisory click HERE.
To sign up
for automated e-mails of our graphical advisory click HERE
We appreciate any
snowpack and avalanche observations you have, so please leave us a message at
(801) 524-5304 or 1-800-662-4140, or email us at [email protected]. (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 on Wednesday morning.