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
Thursday,
February 28, 2008 7:30 am
Good morning, this is Evelyn Lees with
the
Current Conditions:
After a cloudy night,
skies have cleared this morning, and temperatures are in the low to mid 20’s at
most elevations, with a few 30’s in the
Snow and Avalanche Discussion:
Avalanche reports from
the backcountry yesterday were well rounded – a few natural wet slabs and
sluffs; one collapse on a southeast facing slope; a wind
slab triggered in upper Bonkers, 30' across x 4' deep, that only moved
short distance; and a few dry sluffs and shallow wind slabs, the largest a 35' wide
soft slab running 600 vertical feet on a steep north facing slope in Argenta.
With another day of
full force sun and warm temperatures, heat related avalanche activity will once
again be the number one concern. This
morning’s hard crusts may be very thin with wet snow beneath, and could be
triggered while still supportable. Sunny
slopes will heat up rapidly today, and once wet sluffs get moving, they could entrain
a lot of snow, packing a punch. Low to
mid elevation northerly facing slopes are also getting damp and could sluff. Heating
has made cornices sensitive, and they could break back further than expected. Timing is everything, and to quote one of the
Last night’s wind
event created a few more wind drifts along the highest ridgelines and in
exposed upper elevation terrain. Avoid any
drifts of wind blown snow on steep slopes, which could be especially sensitive where
they are sitting on the surface hoar and near surface facets that formed over
the past few nights.
Bottom Line for the
The avalanche danger will
follow the sun - rapidly increasing to MODERATE with pockets
of CONSIDERABLE
on and below steep sunny slopes. First on
east facing, then south, and finally north and northwest facing, easily
triggered wet sluffs and wet slabs will be possible. The mid and upper elevation shady slopes have
a generally a LOW danger, with pockets of MODERATE for new wind drifts and continued sluffing of the surface
snow. These avalanche problems are mostly
manageable with a combination of good timing, careful slope cuts, and attention
to location and consequences.
Mountain Weather:
With high pressure in
control, skies will be clear today, and temperatures rapidly warm into the low
40’s at 8,000’ and to near freezing at 10,000’.
The northwesterly winds will diminish into the 5 to 15 mph range by midday. Friday will be a weather copy cat, only a bit
warmer and calmer. Two small storms are
in the forecast, one for Saturday and another on Tuesday.
Announcements
The Wasatch Powderbird Guides flew
yesterday 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.
Drew Hardesty will update this advisory by 7:30 on Friday morning.