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
Saturday,
January 05, 2008 11:30 am
Good morning, this is Brett Kobernik with
the
Avalanche Watch:
An avalanche watch continues for the
Current Conditions:
Strong
southerly winds continued on cue during the day on Friday as well as
overnight. Averages in the 50s and 60s
with gusts around 100 mph were common on the most exposed peaks. Temperatures remained warm overnight with the
snow level hovering in the 7000 foot range but now dropping. The fire hose was pointed strait at the upper
Cottonwoods overnight with snow totals of around a foot of graupel which
measures near 30 percent density. The
Avalanche Discussion:
The storm
is producing a variety of avalanche concerns today all basically due to the new
snow and water totals. First, the winds will
have drifted the new snow into some large new drifts that may be currently
releasing naturally and most definitely shouldn’t be toyed with by people. The drifting snow has also added a large
amount of weight to the snowpack on the lee sides which could potentially
overload the snowpack and release avalanches that break into older snow on a
variety of aspects. Also, with the rain
on snow at the lower elevations, any steep slope or terrain trap should be
avoided because of potential wet avalanche activity there.
Bottom Line for the
The
avalanche danger has either reached HIGH or will do so this morning with
additional snow. Stay out from
underneath any steep slope today. Avoid
terrain traps such as gully bottoms.
Again, people without expert level avalanche and snowpack assessment
skills should seriously consider avoiding the backcountry.
Mountain Weather:
Unstable
air with good orographic lift should keep snow falling through 1 pm this
afternoon. Densities should start to
lighten up. Snowfall rates may not be as
heavy as we saw this morning. The worst
of the winds should be over but will continue in the 20 to 30 mph range along
the ridges from a westerly direction. Temperatures
should drop into the low 20s. We’ll see
a break this afternoon then another round of snow for Sunday.
Announcements
Wasatch Powderbird Guides did not fly yesterday, and will not be flying today
due to high winds. For more information,
call them at 801-742-2800.
Solitude’s beacon park is now up and running, and ready for use. It’s FREE and located just off the northwest
corner of the lower lot.
For an avalanche education class list,
updated 12/22/07, click HERE.
If you want to get this avalanche advisory e-mailed to you daily click HERE.
UDOT highway avalanche control work info can be
found HERE or by calling (801)
975-4838.
Our statewide tollfree line is 1-888-999-4019 (early morning, option 8).
For our classic text advisory click HERE.
If you’re getting out and see anything we should know about please let us
know. You can leave a message at (801) 524-5304 or
1-800-662-4140, or email us at uac@avalanche.org. (Fax 801-524-6301)
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 http://www.avalanche.org/~uac/fuac-welcome.htm
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.