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
Thursday,
December 21, 2006 7:30 am
Good morning, this is Brett Kobernik with
the
Current Conditions:
Under mostly clear
skies, temperatures are a bit warmer then yesterday morning currently around 20
degrees along the ridges. Northerly
winds on Wednesday did transport some snow but speeds remained fairly low and
are now in the 5-10 mph range from the northwest gusting into the 20s at the
most exposed locations.
Snowpack and Avalanche Conditions:
I received reports of
a few wind slabs that released with slope cuts on Wednesday with one taking a
skier for a short ride. The skier
unintentionally released a 45 foot wide slab that was 10 to 24 inches deep on a
35 degree east facing slope at around 10,000 feet in elevation in Snake
Creek. He grabbed a tree and avoided a
serious accident. This was a collapse
failure of faceted snow below last week’s rime crust. Other locations where wind slabs were
released were small isolated pockets near Gobblers Knob and a few in the
This close call
highlights two things. The first is
faceted snow beneath the crust which may become more of a problem once we
receive more snow. (Click
for a snowpit)
This crust and faceted snow layering is most pronounced from around 8500
feet to 10,500 feet. Careful examination
of the snowpack in this range should be done for future reference. (Click for more
snowpits)
The next thing this
accident highlights is recent wind loading.
For today you will want to pay attention to any area along the upper
elevation ridgelines that has wind affected snow. With recent winds from many directions, you
can find pillows on a variety of aspects.
Slope cuts should be used prior to diving in to steeper slopes. Watch for cracking while traveling which
indicates you are in wind affected terrain.
Bottom Line for the
The avalanche danger
is generally LOW today.
Keep in mind that LOW danger doesn’t mean no
danger AND there are pockets with a MODERATE danger on
slopes steeper than 35 degrees with drifts of wind blown snow.
Mountain Weather:
For today we should
see some increasing high clouds with ridgetop temperatures in the low to mid
20s and light northerly ridgetop winds switching to a more westerly direction
this afternoon. A weak storm should
affect the mountains during Friday with a chance of 3 to 6 inches of new
snow. Another quick hitter will move
through on Sunday with a few more chances for snow through next week.
Announcements:
The Wasatch Powderbird Guides will most be in northern powder circuit
today, including Mineral,
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.
Bruce Tremper will update
this advisory by 7:30 on Friday morning, and thanks for calling.