Advisory: Salt Lake Area Mountains | Issued by Bruce Tremper for April 23, 2013 - 6:32am |
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Above 9,500 ft.
8,000-9,500 ft.
Below 8,000 ft.
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bottom line 1) Avoid steep slopes with recent wind drifts, which will look smooth and rounded and often crack under your weight. Also test the new snow to see how well it's bonded by jumping on small test slopes. 2) Stay off of--and out from underneath--any slope approaching 35 degrees or steeper that is getting wet. There is a Low danger in most areas with a Moderate danger in the terrain mentioned above.
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special announcement I will issue intermittent advisories as conditions warrant until about the end of April for the Salt Lake region only. I will still post observations from you each evening and early morning as well, so if you're getting out, please let everyone in our community know what you find. The rest of our staff is off for the season and most of the ski resorts are closed for the season, so your feedback and observations are important.
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current conditions Note: this advisory was issued Tuesday. I will update again on Thursday. Conditions are expected to remain about the same until then. A blustery, little cold front blasted through yesterday morning with strong wind from the northwest and left us with 1-3 inches of new, windblown snow. Huff and puff with not much fluff. The strong wind scoured the higher peaks on the northwest side. Snow surface conditions remain mostly sun and wind crusted with a skiff of windblown new snow. Upper elevation, north facing slopes sill have some soft, variable riding conditions. It's in the mid teens this morning and should warm to freezing today in the sun. Ridge top winds have calmed down to 10 mph from the northwest. With slow warming through the rest of the week, I'm looking forward to the first corn snow of the season on the sunny aspects. It's been a very snowy, nerve-wracking April with lots of close calls and one tragic fatality. I'm hoping this season will peacefully fade away. Check the Snow Page for more details. |
recent activity No reported activity from yesterday with the exception of some sluffing on steep terrain. But almost no one was out and I was stuck in the office doing budget work.
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type | aspect/elevation | characteristics |
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Above 9,500 ft.
8,000-9,500 ft.
Below 8,000 ft.
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description
The danger is mostly low with cautions today for wind slabs from yesterday's strong wind from the northwest. In general, you will find wind scoured snow on the upper elevation, north through west facing terrain and some recent, shallow wind slabs on the east through south facing slopes, but wind commonly swirls around a lot so you could find wind slabs on any slope. As usual, avoid any steep slope with recent wind deposits, which are easy to recognize and avoid with their smooth surface texture and rounded shape. Note on the danger rose: almost no snow exists on southerly facing slopes below 8,000'. Also, remember, most of the ski resorts are closed for the season with no avalanche control, so treat it just like backcountry terrain. |
type | aspect/elevation | characteristics |
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Above 9,500 ft.
8,000-9,500 ft.
Below 8,000 ft.
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description
With the strong sun, we may see a few small, wet sluffs on the steep, sun exposed slopes so practice usual caution. Stay off of--and out from underneath--steep slopes when you're sinking to wet snow.
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weather Today should be mostly sunny and cold with the high temperature around freezing in sun exposed terrain. Wind should be light from the north and northwest. We should get a minor disturbance tonight with the possibility of a few snowflakes but otherwise we will be on a slow warming trend through the week. You can always check the Cottonwood Canyons Forecast, which you can find on the Snow Page. You can also check your local NWS weather forecast, for example, here is the one for Alta. You can click on any spot in the state for a local forecast. You can also click on the satellite loops, radar loops or the hourly weather graph in the lower right of any forecast.
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general annoucements If you trigger an avalanche in the backcountry - especially if you are adjacent to a ski area – please call the following teams to alert them to the slide and whether anyone is missing or not. Rescue teams can be exposed to significant hazard when responding to avalanches, and do not want to do so when unneeded. Thanks. Salt Lake and Park City – Alta Central (801-742-2033), Canyons Resort Dispatch (435-615-3322) Twitter Updates for your mobile phone - DETAILS Subscribe to the daily avalanche advisory e-mail click HERE. UDOT canyon closures UDOT at (801) 975-4838 Remember your information can save lives. If you see anything we should know about, please participate in the creation of our own community avalanche advisory by submitting snow and avalanche conditions. You can also call us at 801-524-5304 or 800-662-4140, email by clicking HERE, or include #utavy in your tweet. Donate to your favorite non-profit –The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center. The UAC depends on contributions from users like you to support our work. For a print version of this advisory click HERE. This advisory is produced by the U.S. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. It describes only general avalanche conditions and local variations always exist. Specific terrain and route finding decisions should always be based on skills learned in a field-based avalanche class. |