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,
March 31, 2008 7:30 am
Good morning, this is
Current Conditions:
The powerhouse of a
cold front this morning kicked the snowfall in gear, snowing at rates of 3”/hr
and quickly pushing snow totals, since the early morning, to 10” in the Ogden
mountains, 7” in the Park City mountains, 5-8” in the Cottonwoods, and 2-4” in
Provo. It’s 6am as I write this, and it’s
still snowing hard. You can see the back
edge of the storm on the westward horizon, so things ought to calm down pretty
soon. Nonetheless, as one highway
forecaster put it, “the cold front in the morning could cause some excitement
for those looking for it”. The west to
northwest winds are spiking with the front, blowing 20-30mph and gusting into
the 40’s and 50’s. Temps are in the
mid-teens enroute to the single digits.
Snow and Avalanche Discussion:
Yesterday’s 4-7” easily
sluffed
and cracked out in shallow, manageable soft
slabs with ski and slope cuts, and failing on an early-storm density
inversion. The cut snow easily entrained
all the new snow and gouged wider swaths, running pretty good distances down
the slope with debris piles up to 3’. It
would have been a good day for mentors to take the training wheels off for the
novices and grasshoppers to learn the art of the ski/slope cut.
This morning’s burst
of snowfall will easily sluff and produce widespread shallow naturals wherever
the snowfall rates continue to pound the steepest slopes. And with enough snow,
it’ll likely reactivate yesterday’s lower density ‘grease’, stellars that
failed with the higher density snow above. There is an outside chance that these may be
triggered at a distance. Along the
higher, generally easterly facing slopes, newly formed drifts will be
immediately sensitive to the weight of a person on slopes 35 degrees and
steeper, though, again, the sensitivity should start
to settle out as the storm races off to the east.
The riding conditions
should again be exceptional, but remember to start on lower angled terrain,
look over your shoulder, get out of the way at the bottom, and never jump in
above your partner. If you’re in the
steeper terrain today, there’s no question, you’ll get some snow to move. Just be smart enough that you don’t move with
it.
Bottom Line for the
The danger has raced
to CONSIDERABLE
this morning with the burst in snowfall rates and gusty west to northwest
winds. Localized natural activity up to
a foot deep is likely on the steepest slopes at the mid and upper elevations this
morning, but this type of activity will be ephemeral, or short-lived. It will, however, remain sensitive to human
triggering, and most pronounced on the steeper, generally easterly facing wind
drifted slopes. As a whole, with our
current snowpack, the danger is likely to drop to MODERATE
throughout the day and become more pockety. (I do remember Kimbrough once asking a
reporter if he’d go into a bar if he had a ‘moderate’ chance of getting shot…..)
Bottom Line for the Provo Mountains: MODERATE in the storm snow for sluffing and wind drifts
along the highest elevations.
It’s Spring: watch for changing conditions this afternoon. Convective squalls may spike the snowfall
rates in the afternoon in one drainage while ‘sun-breaks’ may induce point
releases in the next.
Mountain Weather:
We can expect another
few inches of snow this morning before getting some partial clearing by mid to
late morning. Midday and afternoon
squalls may kick in, to freshen wipe away the new
tracks. West to northwest winds will be
15-20mph with occasional stronger gusts, and temps will be in the low single
digits between 9 and 11,000’. Unsettled
weather persists through the week with another decent shot of snow around late
Wednesday into Thursday.
Announcements
The Wasatch Powderbird Guides didn’t get
out yesterday, and would be permitted for AF, Cascade, Lamb’s and the Sessions
today. 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.