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Cache National Forest
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Good Morning. This is Ethan Greene with the
This advisory is brought to you by the Friends of
the
Current Conditions:
Last night the skies were
clear and temperatures dipped into the mid to upper 20’s at both 8,000’ and
10,000’. In portions of the
The snow surface is a mix of
wind slabs and sun crusts. You can still
find some soft recrystalized snow on northwest through east aspects that are sheltered
from the wind.
Avalanche Conditions:
Strong winds last week formed
hard slabs in the mid and high elevation areas, and they are sitting on weak
faceted snow. Our current string of warm
days has helped to stabilize these wind slabs, but the loose sugary snow
underneath remains quite weak. As you’re
wondering around the backcountry today look out for smooth wind pillows. They may be quite hard and sound hollow as
you walk across them. These slabs are
still cracking and collapsing, and that tells me you could still trigger one on
a steep slope.
Mountain temperatures
remained quite warm overnight. With
clear skies and moderate winds I suspect the snow surface is frozen this
morning. However, temperatures should
climb into the low 40’s today, so keep an eye out for signs that the danger of wet
avalanches is increasing. If you see roller
balls or you’re sinking into the wet snow more than about 6 inches its time to
stay off of and out from under steep sun exposed slopes.
Bottom Line (SLC and
There is a MODERATE danger of
triggering a wind slab avalanche on any steep wind loaded slope. Look out for these slabs on the sides of gullies
and subridges as well as major terrain features. There is also still a MODERATE danger of triggering a deep slab
avalanche on slopes steeper than about 40 degrees that face the northern half
of the compass and are above about 8,500’.
On slopes less than about 35 degrees in steepness the avalanche danger
is generally LOW.
Bottom Line (
There is a MODERATE danger of
triggering a wind slab avalanche on any steep wind loaded slope. Look out for these slabs on the sides of gullies
and subridges as well as major terrain features. There is also still a MODERATE danger of triggering a deep slab
avalanche on slopes steeper than about 40 degrees that face the northern half
of the compass and are above about 8,500’.
The danger of wet slides may increase to MODERATE today on steep sun exposed slopes. On slopes less than about 35 degrees in
steepness the avalanche danger is generally LOW.
Mountain Weather:
High pressure over the western
General Information:
Wasa
The Friends of the
On Sunday February 2nd
there will be a fundraiser for the Wasa
To report backcountry snow
and avalanche conditions, especially if you observe or trigger an avalanche,
call (801) 524-5304 or 1-800-662-4140, or email to uac@avalanche.org or fax to
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.
Bruce Tremper will update this advisory by
Thanks for calling!
________________________________________________________________________
National
Weather Service - Salt Lake City - Snow.
For an explanation of
avalanche danger ratings: