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
Friday,
March 23, 2007 7:30 am
Good morning, this is Brett Kobernik with
the
Current Conditions:
Mountain temperatures
were a few degrees warmer last night then the night before but still in the mid
20s and with clear skies overnight this should provide a decent refreeze of the
upper snowpack. Temperatures are
slightly warmer in the
Snow and Avalanche Discussion:
Things were fairly
quiet in the backcountry on Thursday as far as avalanches were concerned. There were a couple of glide avalanches in
Broads Fork which is not surprising for this time of the season. Also, you could initiate small push-a-lanches with slope cuts on sun exposed aspects that would
entrain the new snow. (see Photos link on the left)
These could get big enough to knock a person over causing injury if they
run on a sustained enough slope.
The main concern for
today will be heat related activity mostly within the new snow as the day
progresses. East
facing slopes warm first, then south, then west. Avalanches releasing deeper into the snowpack
will be fairly unlikely but you will still want to watch sunny aspects to
become punchy. If this happens, it’s
time to move off of them as this is a sign that the snow is becoming weak.
Bottom Line for the
The avalanche danger
will go from LOW to MODERATE on slopes
steeper than about 35 degrees as daytime heating occurs. Clouds this afternoon may keep temperatures
in check and not allow slopes to become total mush which will help keep the
avalanche danger at bay.
Mountain Weather:
Skies will start out
mostly clear this morning with increasing clouds through the day. 8000 to 10,000 foot ridgeline temperatures
will be a few degrees warmer then yesterday and reach into the mid 40s. Ridgetop winds will pick up slightly for a
while but only into the 10mph range gusting to around 30 at the more exposed
locations from a northerly direction. For
the weekend we’ll see partly cloudy skies with gradually increasing daytime temperatures
and southwest winds picking up on Sunday.
There will be a disturbance that will bring the chance for rain or snow
showers late Sunday then the next good chance for a colder snow storm will be Tuesday
into Wednesday which looks fairly decent still at this time.
Announcements:
The Wasatch Powderbird
Guides were in
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 all the great
snowpack and avalanche observations we’ve been getting, so keep leaving us
messages 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 Saturday morning, and
thanks for calling.