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,
February 06, 2007 7:30 am
Good morning, this is Brett Kobernik with
the
Current Conditions:
Yesterday, Mother Nature
decided to add “damp and manky” to our expanding array
of variable snow conditions. I say,
thank you Mother Nature for reminding us how good we usually have it here in
the Wasatch but, we were getting the hint a number of weeks ago already. Temperatures maxed out around 50 degrees at
some 9000 foot locations yesterday. They
cooled slightly in the afternoon but have been on the rise again since around
4pm yesterday and are near 40 at elevations as high as 11,000 feet. Winds picked up slightly but are only in the
5 to 15 mph range from the west southwest.
Snowpack and Avalanche Conditions:
Collapsing of the
recent wind slabs continued yesterday.
There was one significant avalanche triggered from a slope cut yesterday
by some snow safety workers near the Canyons ski resort. (PHOTOS) They were in the area to look at some
avalanche activity from the previous day when they were able to get the
adjacent slope to release. The slide was
around 200 feet wide and up to 19 inches deep on an east northeast facing slope
at around 9400 feet. The culprit was
once again a wind slab over weak faceted snow which has formed throughout this
season but surface hoar was also noted in portions of the bed surface. Skiers in Big Springs were able to get a hard
slab to release with some coaxing that was 6 to 18 inches deep, 40 feet wide
and ran about 400 feet vertical. While
the temperatures did skyrocket yesterday wet avalanche activity was somewhat
limited.
Since the recent wind
slabs are sitting on a persistent weak layer, you can expect collapsing and the
potential for avalanching to continue.
As the days progress it will be harder to trigger some of these but
there’s no doubt that you can still find a spot that will avalanche. You’ll mainly find these above around 8500 or
9000 feet on north through southeast facing aspects but I did have a drift
collapse on a west facing aspect yesterday so don’t let your guard down.
The very warm temperatures
yesterday as well as overnight demand we keep in mind that this can contribute
to snow instability. Damp snow on the
surface and “rollerballing” are signs that the snow
is becoming unstable. Also keep in mind
that the surface may not be especially wet but the warm temperatures may have
weakened the structure of the snow enough to produce a slab avalanche. Lots of faceted snow this year adds
suspicion. Avalanching from warming is
most likely on southerly facing slopes at the higher elevations and all aspects
down low.
Bottom Line for the
Today, the avalanche
danger is MODERATE on any slope steeper than about 35
degrees with recent drifts of wind blown snow.
Steep north through southeast facing slopes with recent deposits of wind
drifted snow should be avoided.
Southerly facing slopes need to be monitored closely for heat related
activity as well as all aspects at lower elevations.
Mountain Weather:
Today we’ll see partly
cloudy skies with mild temperatures and westerly winds in the 5 to 15 mph range
along most of the ridges. Temperatures won’t
warm a whole lot more but will remain in the 30s at the higher elevations and
in the 40s at 8000 feet. A moist
westerly flow is still scheduled to affect us through the weekend with the
first impulse on Wednesday which has only a slight chance of measurable snow
with it. The next few impulses after
that have a better chance to produce snow.
Announcements:
Yesterday, the Wasatch Powderbird Guides were in AF and the Cascade
Ridgeline and won’t fly today. With
questions regarding their areas of operation call 742-2800.
On February 8th at 7:30, there will be a Teton Skiing documentary
at Brewvies.
Listen to the
advisory. Try our new streaming audio or
podcasts
UDOT highway avalanche
control work info can be found HERE
or by calling (801)
975-4838.
Our statewide tollfree line is 1-888-999-4019 (early morning, 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, and
thanks for calling.