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
Monday,
February 18, 2008 7:30 am
Good morning, this is
Current Conditions:
Skies are mostly clear
with mountain temperatures generally in the teens with some of the canyon
bottom readings in the single digits which shows a
slight temperature inversion. Northwest
winds continue to average in the 30 mph range gusting into the 40s along the
highest ridges but speeds are much slower along the mid elevation ridges.
Snow and Avalanche Discussion:
For a holiday weekend
with nice weather, the backcountry was fairly quiet on Sunday. A couple of skiers found a few drifts that
released on them with one skier getting pushed around a bit. The one thin minor wind slab was on a
northwest facing slope at around 10,500 feet and the other more significant
pocket was on a southeast facing aspect off of Mt Tuscarora at about the same
elevation. The larger pocket cracked out
about 50 feet wide. This might be
interesting to look at say if you were in an avalanche class that just happened
to be going on this weekend at the Wasatch Mountain Club.
When stability
increases, so does our confidence in getting into more radical terrain. However, often the radical terrain is along
the upper elevations and on the steepest slopes. These are just the places where we will have
a chance to trigger a recent wind slab still today. Watch for these on numerous aspects in the
higher terrain and use well placed slope cuts to test these. While these wind slabs can push a skier,
snowboarder or snowshoer around, snowmobilers will hardly notice these when
they release.
With the southerly
facing and lower elevation terrain having already gone through a number of melt
freeze cycles, today’s temperatures won’t be so outrageous to produce much wet
activity but those slopes will most likely become damp.
Bottom Line for the
The
avalanche danger is generally LOW. There are pockets with a MODERATE
danger along the upper elevation ridgelines and in open bowls where a few new
and old wind drifts could be triggered on steep slopes.
Mountain Weather:
A ridge moves in today
and remains through Tuesday producing mild weather with mostly clear skies. Northwest winds will continue at their
current speeds through today before slowing into Tuesday. Temperatures will be near 30 at 8000 feet and
in the mid 20s along the upper ridges.
Announcements
The Wasatch Powderbird Guides flew in
Cascade and American Fork yesterday. The plan for today is to fly in American
Fork and Cascade. They may use Grizzly Gulch or White Pine for a home run. For more detailed information please call
(801) 742-2800 or go to their daily
blog.
The ‘Best of the 2007’ Banff
Mountain Film Festival is coming to The University of Utah, this Tuesday,
February 19th and Wednesday, February 20th at 7pm. Films are different each night, and tickets
are available at the box office, door, or REI.
For more information call 801-581-7100.
If you want to get this
avalanche advisory e-mailed to you daily click HERE.
UDOT highway avalanche control work info can be
found by calling (801) 975-4838.
Our statewide tollfree line is 1-888-999-4019 (early morning, option 8).
Watch video tututorials and fieldwork from UAC staff at our YouTube
channel.
The UAC depends
on contributions from users like you to support our work. To find out
more about how you can support our efforts to continue providing the avalanche
forecasting and education that you expect please visit our Friends page.
If you see any avalanches or interesting snow conditions, 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.