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
Wednesday,
March 05, 2008 7:30 am
Good morning, this is
Current Conditions:
Storm totals from the
last 24 hours are only a trace to around 3 inches of new snow which mostly fell
early Tuesday. Northwest winds were
gusty getting into the mid and lower portions of the drainages somewhat but
tapered off late in the afternoon.
Temperatures stayed cool with mostly cloudy skies and are currently in
the single digits to low teens.
Snow and Avalanche Discussion:
The northwest winds on
Tuesday were transporting the new snow erasing old tracks and forming some
drifts up to 2 feet deep. These drifts
were not very sensitive for the most part only cracking after much provoking. In general, I expected to see more wind
damage then I found. Under the newest
snow, southerly
slopes have a moderately thick melt freeze crust while northerly
slopes have settled powder. I did
not note any significant weakness in the upper portion of the snowpack aside
from the fresh drifts.
For today, the drifts
that formed Tuesday will be our main focus.
It doesn’t seem like they’ll pose much problem but if you’re along the
upper elevation ridges keep them in mind.
If you find one that pops out it will most likely be a pocket and not
entrain much snow. It could be enough to
knock you down or take you for a ride though if you’re snowshoeing, skiing or
snowboarding. Snowmobilers will hardly
be affected by these pockets. You’ll
find these mainly on easterly facing slopes but as usual watch for cross
loading on all aspects.
Bottom Line for the
The avalanche danger is
generally LOW however there are pockets with a MODERATE danger along the upper elevation ridges that have
recent wind drifts on them. These are
mostly on easterly facing slopes but always watch for crossloading on all
aspects. Keep in mind that with lower
avalanche danger ratings we tend to push ourselves into more complex terrain
which is just the place we’re most likely to find one of these pockets today.
Mountain Weather:
We’ll see some clouds
over the mountains today with the chance of a snow flurry. Temperatures will remain fairly cold with
highs in the mid to upper 20s at 8000 feet and low 20s along the upper
ridges. Northerly winds will be in the 5
to 15 mph range gusting into the 30s and 40s along the more exposed locations. High pressure gradually moves in over the
next few days with slowly warming temperatures.
The next chance for snow looks like it will be this weekend.
Announcements
The Wasatch Powderbird Guides did not fly
on Tuesday. Weather permitting today
they’ll have two aircraft in the Try Canyons operating in Mineral, Cardiff,
Days, Silver, Grizzly, White Pine, and Mill Creek. For more detailed information please call
(801) 742-2800 or go to their daily blog.
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.