Wasatch Cache National Forest
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 Salt Lake County.

keeping you on top

AVALANCHE ADVISORY

Sunday, April 01, 2007  7:30 am
Good morning, this is Drew Hardesty with the Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center with your backcountry avalanche and mountain weather advisory.  Today is Sunday, April 01, 2007 and it’s 7:30 in the morning.

 

The Canyons Professional Ski Patrol Association is hosting a fundraiser for the Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center, tonight at 7:30 at Side Car in Park City.  For more info, click here.

 

Current Conditions:

Partly cloudy skies will gradually thicken throughout the day today ahead of a weak storm system slated for tonight into tomorrow.  The southwesterly winds yesterday and hit speeds of 25-35mph along the high peaks, but have since dropped off in the wee hours of the morning.  Mountain temperatures are in the upper twenties to low thirties.  It’s still possible to find some good cold snow among the wind and sun damage in the high northerly terrain, and always, always worth the effort to be in the hills.

 

Avalanche Discussion:

The stronger westerly winds loaded the high easterly aspects with stiffer wind drifts, allowing for ski patrolmen to intentionally trigger a couple up to 16” deep in upper elevation exposed terrain.  One party triggered one mid-slope in north-facing upper Mineral Fork of Big Cottonwood Canyon. 

 

Obviously tired of playing cat and mouse with the snow since the mid-week storm, the sun rallied to dampen the snow on all exposed aspects.  Its effects produced some loose snow naturals up high on northeast facing Timpanogos and made conditions ripe for wet push-alanches a few inches deep, running on the old melt freeze crusts.  A late party or two pushed some down the steep south facing terrain in upper Little Cottonwood.

 

Wet activity may be a player again today, even on the high northeast and northwest facing slopes when dampened.  Tourers in the high terrain should watch for gradually settling out scalloped and rounded wind drifts in high east facing terrain.  Both issues should respond well to ski cuts with snow breaking at your ride or board(s).

 

Bottom Line for the Salt Lake, Park City, Provo and Ogden area mountains: 

There is a localized danger of MODERATE on slopes steeper than about 35 degrees with recent deposits of wind drifted snow.  These drifts will be most widespread on northeast through southeasterly facing slopes along the higher ridgelines.  The avalanche danger will rapidly rise to MODERATE on and below steep sunny slopes with direct sun and daytime heating. 

 

Mountain Weather: 

Increasing clouds and southwesterly winds will herald this unimpressive system arriving tonight and tomorrow.  Temps will reach into the low thirties today at 10,000’ and low 40’s at 8000’.  Winds will ramp into the 35-40mph range late this evening.  High pressure rebounds for later in the week.

 

Announcements:

The Wasatch Powderbird Guides flew in Days, Cardiff, Mineral, and American Fork.  They’ll likely send one ship to the Cascade ridgeline today. For more info, call 742-2800. 

 

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.

Brett Kobernik will
update this advisory by 7:30 on Monday morning, and thanks for calling.