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 26, 2006 7:30 am
Good morning, this is Brett Kobernik with
the
Current Conditions:
Under cloudy skies,
ridgetop temperatures remain fairly warm and are in the mid to upper 20s. Ridgetop winds are blowing in the 10 to 20mph
range gusting into the 30s and 40s at the more exposed locations.
Snowpack and Avalanche Conditions:
No avalanche activity
was reported from Christmas day, however, a few people
did note some collapsing under foot with one person reporting a crack opening
up. This is an indicator of a few “booby
traps” that are lingering. Areas that
have a thin snowpack are the likely places for a pocket to pull out. This was the case with an avalanche that ran
on the 24th which may have been remotely triggered from some skiers
in the Home Run near The Canyons ski resort (PHOTO1,
PHOTO2). Faceted snow most likely from early December
was the weak layer. It should be noted
that this area was not influenced from the recent wind events a whole lot. However, lingering wind slabs that formed
over the last few days are also a concern for today. (Photos
from avalanches on Scott Hill) (December
Weather Chart) Ski resorts in the
Bottom Line for the
While many areas have
a generally LOW danger, ridgeline areas with
recent wind loaded snow as well as thin snowpack areas have a pockety MODERATE danger.
Slope angles need to be fairly steep to get an avalanche to run and must
be at least 35 degrees in steepness.
Mountain Weather:
Today we’ll see cloudy
skies with mild temperatures and moderate winds picking up slightly throughout
the day. Ridgetop temperatures will be
in the upper 20s and ridgetop winds will be from a westerly direction in the 10
to 20 mph range gusting into the 30s and 40s at the more exposed locations. We should get a small shot of snow tonight
into Wednesday then a slightly better chance Wednesday night into Thursday.
Announcements:
Yesterday, the Wasatch Powderbird Guides did not fly and most likely won’t
today but will try for the northern powder circuit plus American Fork and White
Pine.
The
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 Wednesday morning,
and thanks for calling.