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
Tuesday,
February 26, 2008 7:30 am
Good morning, this is
Current Conditions:
If you’re reading this
report from your house right now and you’re planning on getting into the
mountains, you’re late!! Drop what you’re
doing and get out there before the snow turns to junk and starts sliding. Temperatures were cold overnight in the low
teens but that won’t last long. Winds
really dropped off over the last 6 hours and are just averaging 10 to 15 mph
along the higher ridges. Snowfall from
the last 24 hours was generally 4 to 8 inches which fell mostly during the day
on Monday.
Snow and Avalanche Discussion:
Observations
from the backcountry on Monday included no natural avalanche activity, lots of
sluffing on steeper slopes, numerous human triggered pockets along the ridges
within the new snow and one human triggered avalanche that broke 2 feet deep
and 100 feet wide. A number of observers
including myself noted collapsing of stiffer wind slabs as well as some
collapsing of a thin melt freeze crust. UDOT
avalanche control work produced many class 2 avalanches in Little Cottonwood with
none quite reaching the road. On the
flip side, many folks had no problem finding areas with mostly stable snow and
excellent conditions.
Heat induced avalanche
activity is the focus for today.
Temperatures will get warm but not outrageous. However, with new snow at this time of the
year it’s not so much a function of what the thermometer reads but more
importantly how much direct solar radiation will happen. The sun was hidden for the most part on
Monday so today will be the new snow’s first encounter with the sun which is
always the most active day. Careful
route selections will be the key as the day goes on. Think about where you will exit this
afternoon. You may not want to be coming
back down a southerly facing slope or out a steep walled lower elevation gully
this later today. Easterly facing slopes
may heat faster then you anticipate also.
(PHOTOS
from wet activity Sunday) (ROOF ALANCHE)
Lingering pockets
along the upper ridgelines also warrant a mention for today. While most of these have been stabilizing
over the last 24 hours, warmer ambient air temperatures today may be enough to affect
their stability. Slope cuts should be
used in excess along the ridges.
Bottom Line for the
The avalanche danger
rating will be all over the place today depending on your aspect, elevation and
timing. A LOW avalanche
danger can be found on most slopes out of the wind affected terrain before
about 9 this morning. By then the
avalanche danger will start to rise on southerly facing slopes to MODERATE and may reach CONSIDERABLE as the day goes on. Expect natural avalanching on slopes facing
the sun. A MODERATE
danger exists for lingering pockets formed from winds over the last 48 hours
along the upper elevation ridges.
Mountain Weather:
We’ll see partly
cloudy skies today with maybe some convective clouds bubbling up. Temperatures will get into the mid to upper
30s at 8000 feet and near 30 along the higher ridges. Winds will remain light for the most part
from the west northwest. Expect slightly
warmer temperatures on Wednesday.
Announcements
The Wasatch Powderbird Guides did not fly
yesterday due to weather and will be in Mineral,
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.