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 30, 2007 7:30 am
Good morning, this is Brett Kobernik with
the
Current Conditions:
The low pressure
rotating off to our east kept temperatures cool and fed clouds in from the
northeast which kept the snow cold for the most part. Solar radiation did affect the snow surface
somewhat during brief periods of clearing.
A northeast wind event yesterday morning did some damage to the snow
surface as well as producing some drifting. Winds slowed in the afternoon but another
similar northeast wind event occurred last night with not quite the wind speeds
we saw yesterday. Snow flurries
throughout the day produced a few more inches of snow. Temperatures cooled into the teens overnight
and even into the single digits at 11,000 feet.
Avalanche Discussion:
Many folks that were
out enjoying the recent fresh snow experienced the affect of yesterday’s
winds. Widespread shallow but manageable
wind slabs were triggered by people as well as a few natural slides also. The consequences of burial or even getting
injured by these were minimal as far as what I saw as well as the observations
I’ve heard from others that were out in the backcountry. There was one report of a ski resort snow
safety worker going for a short ride after accidentally triggering a wind slab out
of bounds in Little Cottonwood. No
significant wet activity was observed. (Click the Photos link for obs
and photos from Thursday)
Lingering wind slabs
will be the main concern again today.
These shouldn’t be as sensitive as they were yesterday but last nights
winds may have produced a fresh round that folks should watch for. These will be manageable and for the most
part won’t pose a real great threat.
Slope cuts will be a very effective tool again today. Approaching these wind slabs from the top is
the preferred technique rather then tickling them from below.
While it looks like we’ll
see a good amount of cloud cover again today, at this time of the season we
always need to be aware of solar radiation heating the snow during any periods
of clearing. This can change the snow
very rapidly making it unstable in a very short period of time. Consider where you are or where you may be
traveling if the skies decide to clear all of a sudden. Sometimes you can see avalanche activity
within a half an hour when the sun pokes through especially after fresh
snowfall like we have now. East through
south through west aspects may produce wet activity during any clearing today.
Bottom Line for the
The avalanche danger
is generally LOW on most slopes with a pockety MODERATE danger of triggering a wind slab on many different
aspects. There is also a potential for
the danger to rise to MODERATE during
periods where the skies may clear as the day progresses mainly on slopes
approaching 40 degrees with a sun exposed aspect.
Mountain Weather:
The low pressure
continues to rotate off to our east which will feed some moisture into our area
mostly in the form of clouds along with a few snow flurries possible. Winds look like they’ll stay in the 5 to 10
mph range from the north and northeast gradually shifting to the northwest and
increasing a bit as the low gets pushed away from us to the east. Temperatures stay fairly cool but will be
somewhat warmer then yesterday with ridgetop highs making it to around 30. This weekend we’ll see partly cloudy skies
with slightly warmer temperatures. A
short wave trough moving through northern
Announcements:
The Wasatch Powderbird
Guides didn’t fly yesterday and if they can fly today, if cloud cover allows
them, they’ll be in Silver, Days,
The Canyons Professional Ski Partol Association is hosting a fundraiser
for the Friends of the
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.