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
Friday,
March 28, 2008 7:30 am
Good morning, this is
Current Conditions:
The Wasatch picked up
2 to 5 inches of fresh snow Thursday morning with winds moving it around quite
a bit after the storm passed.
Temperatures dropped into the single digits overnight at numerous
mountain locations and are generally in the mid teens. Westerly winds slowed considerably overnight
and the skies cleared somewhat with clouds now moving in again.
Snow and Avalanche Discussion:
The new snow combined
with gusty winds drifted the snow around producing some minor natural activity
along the upper lee ridges. These drifts
that formed would crack under the weight of a person as well. (PHOTO) The pockets were small and didn’t run very
far posing not much threat. Drew was
able to sniff
out a slab that collapsed and broke into faceted snow on Thursday. It was around 1.5 feet deep, 40 feet wide, and
ran a few hundred feet not piling up a whole lot of debris. This weakness produced some activity a couple
of weeks ago which was spotty at the time and is even more so now.
Avalanches won’t pose
a great threat out there today but you will want to use normal backcountry procedures
for the current conditions. Minor fresh
wind slabs and warming of the new snow are the concerns for today. Slope cuts will be an affective tool for both
of these issues. In the colder wind
drifts you’ll get instant gratification if they are going to crack. On aspects where the snow warms, slope cuts
may initiate a sluff below you. Be
patient and let it run to get an idea if it is going to entrain much snow
before diving in. Cloud cover may keep
wet activity minimal but have it in mind.
Bottom Line for the
This morning most
areas have a LOW avalanche danger. There is a pockety MODERATE
danger in the more exposed terrain where recent drifts formed. These will mainly be on upper elevation north
through southeast facing slopes steeper then 35 degrees. The danger for wet activity may rise to MODERATE with daytime heating. You can avoid this issue by getting in and
getting out of the mountains early.
Mountain Weather:
Increasing clouds this
morning with scattered snow this afternoon in warm air advection is expected. Clouds are moving in this morning. Temperatures at 8000 feet will get into the
mid to upper 30s and winds will be from the southwest increasing a bit as the
day goes on. A cold front similar to Thursday’s
disturbance should produce snow into Saturday morning with somewhat gusty westerly
winds. I’m expecting only a few inches
of snow this afternoon and a few more with the cold front tonight making a 3 to
6 inch event. Weather remains unsettled through
Sunday bringing another chance for snow.
Announcements
The Wasatch Powderbird Guides did not fly
yesterday. If they can fly today,
they’ll try for 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.