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

Friday, December 07, 2007 7:30 am
Good morning, this is Brett Kobernik with the Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center with your backcountry avalanche and mountain weather advisory. Today is Friday, December 07, 2007 and it’s about 7:30 am.

Current Conditions:

So far the storm has verified yesterday’s weather forecast nicely. Ridgetop temperatures are in the low to mid 20s and still right around 30 at the lower mountain locations. The winds that increased slightly overnight gusting in the 20s to 40s from the southwest have slowed a bit now. Looking at snow and water totals as of 6 am, the Ogden area has 5 to 8 inches with a half inch to near an inch of water depending on location. The Park City area is up to around 10 inches or better, Big Cottonwood has 9 inches with a half inch of water, Little Cottonwood received 7 inches with around a half inch of water, and the Provo area is up to around 12 inches of snow with around an inch of water.

Avalanche Discussion:

No avalanching was reported from Thursday which is not too surprising since not many people were out.

For today we’ll want to keep a couple of things in mind.

First, the upper elevation northerly aspects are suspect. As we’ve been bantering about, weaker “sugar like” snow underlies a snow slab that we are currently adding weight to. Many slopes have the potential to avalanche that haven’t avalanched yet. The snow may not be as hair trigger as last weekend which makes things trickier by hiding obvious signs. However, continued collapsing and cracking throughout this weak are sure signs of instability. Many bed surfaces from previous avalanches still have weak snow on them so we’ll need to approach these with caution as well.

Next, we’ll want to pay close attention to layering within the new snow. Snowfall as of now, at the upper elevations at least, is fairly light density. It wouldn’t take much change in the atmosphere such as slight warming or stronger winds to form a layer of slightly heavier density snow on top of this lighter density snow. This could cause an unstable layer within the new snow. Quick hand pits and shovel tilt tests are great methods to reveal any new snow instability if some should occur. Cut above any existing tracks to see if the snow fails. (Video: Shovel Tilt)

Bottom Line:

Salt Lake, Park City and Provo area mountains: The avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE on northwest, west and northeast facing slopes above around 9000 feet and on slopes steeper then around 35 degrees. Keep in mind that the avalanche danger will be on the rise through Saturday. Slopes that didn’t have underlying weak snow have a MODERATE danger.

Ogden area mountains: The avalanche danger is MODERATE also due to less faceted snow near the ground.

Mountain Weather:

Current radar shows bands of snow that will keep periods of snow happening. We will see periods of snow through Saturday with a good shot this evening. Southwest winds will pick up later this morning. Temperatures will stay in the low to mid 20s for most of the day before colder air moves in tonight as the surface low passes just to our south. We’ll probably see upwards of 2 feet total by the time it’s done. Things will taper off by Sunday.

Announcements:

Wasatch Touring in Salt Lake City will have a beacon park set up at their shop on Saturday and you can demo several brands of beacons.

For an avalanche education class list, click HERE.

If you want to get this avalanche advisory e-mailed to you daily click HERE.

The UAC has temporary job openings for doing avalanche outreach in more rural areas. Click HERE for info.

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 our classic text advisory click HERE.

If you’re getting out and see anything we should know about please let us know. You can leave 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 Thursday morning.