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,
April 01, 2008 7:30 am
Good morning, this is Evelyn Lees with
the
Current Conditions:
Under mostly clear
skies, there’s a parade of single digit temperatures this morning, with a few stations
even dipping below zero. Winds have
shifted to the southwest and generally decreased to less than 10 mph, with even
the highest gusts less than 25 mph. Storm
totals of the velvety powder are mostly in the 10 to 17 inch range, with variations
by elevation and drainage. It will be
powder ‘round the clock this morning, with no sun damage from yesterday, and
the best riding is on wind sheltered slopes, especially where there was a smooth,
softer old snow surface.
Snow and Avalanche Discussion:
There were no surprises
yesterday. From Ogden south through
Provo, all areas had an overnight natural
cycle of shallow, new snow avalanches, followed in the midday hours by
easily triggered soft slabs and sluffs, some running far, especially on the
glacial ice crusts. The human triggered new
snow slides averaged about a foot deep and 40’ wide, becoming less sensitive as
the day went on. A link to Brett’s
more detailed observation and a
Today, backcountry
travelers will continue to be able to trigger sluffs and shallow soft slabs
with in the new snow, especially on wind drifted slopes loaded by yesterday’s
west to northwesterly winds. While
predictable and generally manageable with slopes cuts, a foot deep slab is
large enough to catch and carry a person, especially if it pulls out above you,
so approach steep terrain with a defensive attitude.
Wet sluffs and slabs
will be the second avalanche concern with direct sun in the forecast. While the steeper sunny slopes will get the
brunt of the solar radiation, the sun is so high in the sky now it’s affecting
all aspects. How widespread any wet
activity will be depends on the timing and thickness of the clouds. Thin clouds may help to heat the low to mid
elevation northerly facing slopes. So, where
ever you are, if the snow surface becomes sticky or snowball moist, and roller balls
go wild, it means the snow is poised for damp sluffs, which have the potential
to be sizable.
Bottom Line for the
The avalanche danger is
MODERATE on slopes steeper than about 35
degrees, especially where wind drifted; human triggered sluffs and soft slabs
are possible. There is also a MODERATE danger with sun and daytime heating for human triggered
damp sluffs on steep, southerly facing slopes and low elevation slopes.
Mountain Weather:
A southwest flow today
will bring a slow increase in high and mid level clouds. Temperatures will warm to near 30 at 8,000’
and into the mid teens at 10,000’. The
winds will remain delightfully calm, with average speeds 5 to 15 mph, and only
the highest peaks even gusting into the 20’s. After a morning of mostly sunny skies, the
increasing clouds may bring a few light snow flurries by late afternoon. Periods
of light snowfall will occur tonight through Thursday morning, followed by high
pressure Thursday afternoon through Friday.
Announcements
Our
partners, the Friends of the
The Wasatch Powderbird
Guides didn’t get out yesterday, and today they 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.
Brett Kobernik will update this advisory by 7:30 on Wednesday morning.