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,
April 04, 2008 7:30 am
Good morning, this is
Current Conditions:
Under clear skies this
morning, temperatures have cooled into the mid teens to low twenties at most
mountain locations. The winds are
generally from the northwest in the 5 to 10 mph range, with the high elevations
gusting into the 30s. It will be
possible to squeak out one more day of good, consistent powder by staying on
high northerly facing slopes, above about 9,000. All other aspects and elevations have their
own character problems a medley of breakable crusts that will warm to slop,
including a shallowly buried funky crust on mid and low elevation shady slopes.
Snow and Avalanche Discussion:
Both wet sluff and dry
wind slab activity was reported yesterday.
A skier triggered a 12 inch deep by 75 foot slide in Cardiac Bowl, and
was caught and carried. He slammed his knee
on rocks as he escaped out to side, and Wasatch Backcountry Rescue was called
out to do the evacuation. Another
similar sized wind drift was triggered with a cornice drop in the Monitors. Numerous wet loose sluffs were reported in
the SLC and Ogden area mountains, both naturals and human triggered, with the
larger ones running up to 800 vertical and piling up debris 3-5' deep. One person went for a short ride on Little
Superior.
Today, once again wet
avalanche activity is the main concern, and timing is everything. With a forecast of clear skies and a 10
degree jump in temperatures, easily human triggered wet sluffs will be possible
on most aspects and elevations, starting mid morning. Natural avalanches are possible, so be aware
of steep slopes above you. The low and
mid elevation northerly facing slopes could produce wet sluffs today as the dry
snow heats for the first time. So start early and finish early to avoid getting tangled up in these wet slides. Stay out of gully bottoms and confined chutes
where debris can pile up deeply. Heating
has also caused the cornices to weaken, and they are breaking off further back
than expected.
In addition, a few
wind drifts may still be sensitive today, most widespread on upper elevation
northeasterly facing slopes. While most
of the drifts triggered yesterday were less than 6 inches deep, a few were a
foot deep - large enough to catch and carry a person.
Bottom Line for the
While the avalanche
danger is generally LOW early this morning,
it will rapidly rise to MODERATE or even CONSIDERABLE
with daytime heating and direct sun.
Easily triggered wet sluffs are probable on most aspects and elevations,
including low and mid elevation northerly facing slopes. Spontaneous wet sluffs may occur, so avoid
travel on and beneath steep slopes as the day heats up. In addition, there are
pockets of MODERATE danger on upper
elevation, northerly facing slopes for a few lingering wind drifts that could
be triggered on steep slopes.
Mountain Weather:
A few hours of Spring will sneak in today, before another small, cool storm
arrives tonight. Temperatures today will
warm to near 50 at 8,000 and near 30 at 10,000. The winds will shift to the southwest, and
blow in the 10 to 20 mph range, with the highest peaks gusting into the
40s. Clouds will start increasing this
afternoon, with a cold front arriving around midnight that should produce 4 to
7 inches of snow by Saturday afternoon.
A short break on Sunday will be followed by cooler than normal,
unsettled weather through much of next week
Announcements
Our
partners, the Friends of the
The Wasatch Powderbird
Guides skied in Mineral and
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.