Utah Avalanche Center
New member
November 20, 2006 - 7:05 am The avalanche danger remains MODERATE on northwest, north, northeast, and east facing slopes above about 9,000’ and steeper than about 35 degrees. Anticipate and avoid any new wind drifting on the same aspects over the next couple days. Finally, the danger of wet activity on the sun exposed slopes will rise to MODERATE with daytime heating.
Drew Hardesty
UDOT plans to conduct artillery avalanche control work in Little Cottonwood Canyon on Tuesday, November 21 at 7:30am. Please stay clear of avalanche paths on the north side of the canyon until 9am. It would be a good idea to bookmark their new UDOT avalanche website.
Links: Avalanche List Photos Profile List Weather Links Encyclopedia 24 Hrs If you’re just catching up to us, a windy powerhouse of a storm rung the bell of our shallow, weak snowpack last Tuesday, resulting in a widespread avalanche cycle, with many slopes pulling out to the ground. While some of the activity has settled out, a few booby-traps remain, as evidenced by Saturday’s avalanches that were triggered from a distance. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the recrystallized snow and surface hoar on the snow surface may turn out to be the next sliding surface for the next series of storms.
In the mean time, be mindful of a few avalanche issues for today. First, avoid the areas with weak basal snow and lingering deep slab potential on the northwest through east facing aspects above about 9000’. These slides will likely step to the ground and will be difficult to survive. Slope cuts are rarely predictable or safe with this snow structure. And it may still be possible to trigger the avalanche from a distance, even from the flats. 24 Hrs Second, look for a few shallow new wind drifts from the gustier southwesterly winds over the next couple of days as the new drifts will be sitting on the weak surface snow. They’ll be found at the highest elevations on the lee of steep northwest through east facing slopes as well. While control work in upper Little Cottonwood still produced avalanches to the ground, no new activity or spooky reports came in from the backcountry. Bruce went up to investigate the three remotely triggered slides from Saturday, and Bob Athey went to look at the snow along the Park City. With a stagnant atmosphere, mountain temperatures remain inverted with overnight lows in the mid-to upper 30’s above 9500’. On the backside of the ridge of high pressure, winds are out of the south and southwest averaging 15-25mph with some local gusts into the 40’s. Riding conditions are ok on the upper elevation shady slopes while the sunny and off-aspects build into the first corn cycle of the year.
We’ll see increasing clouds and southwesterly winds over the next couple of days ahead of a Thanksgiving day cold front. 8000’ temps will skyrocket to the mid-50’s with 10k temps pushing into the mid-40’s. Winds will be 25-35 in the most exposed locations. Looks like we may be in for a regime change in the weather, optimistically forecasting a storm Thursday, late Saturday, and perhaps again late Tuesday.
The next FUAC fundraiser will be at Brewvies. “The Anomaly” by TGR is playing on Dec 7th, with two showings, at 7pm and 9pm. Advance tickets are available.To sign up for automated e-mails of our graphical advisory click HEREListen to the advisory. Try our new streaming audio or podcasts We appreciate any snowpack and avalanche observations, so please let us know by calling (801) 524-5304 or 1-800-662-4140, email uac@avalanche.org or fax 801-524-6301The 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.UDOT has a new avalanche website to give up-to-date info on canyon closures and avalanche control work. It's recommended to check this site prior to any early starts in the Cottonwoods or Provo Canyon.Early birds and dawn patrollers can call 1-888-999-4019x8 for our 6am early morning reports.Brett Kobernik will update this advisory on Tuesday morning by 730am. This advisory provided by the Wasatch Cache National Forest, 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 Salt Lake County
DISCLAIMER: Above is information on each factor affecting todays' danger rating. All factors must be considered to develop a backcountry travel plan that will reduce your risk.
The post was created using an automated process maintained by First Tracks! Online.
Drew Hardesty
UDOT plans to conduct artillery avalanche control work in Little Cottonwood Canyon on Tuesday, November 21 at 7:30am. Please stay clear of avalanche paths on the north side of the canyon until 9am. It would be a good idea to bookmark their new UDOT avalanche website.
Links: Avalanche List Photos Profile List Weather Links Encyclopedia 24 Hrs If you’re just catching up to us, a windy powerhouse of a storm rung the bell of our shallow, weak snowpack last Tuesday, resulting in a widespread avalanche cycle, with many slopes pulling out to the ground. While some of the activity has settled out, a few booby-traps remain, as evidenced by Saturday’s avalanches that were triggered from a distance. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the recrystallized snow and surface hoar on the snow surface may turn out to be the next sliding surface for the next series of storms.
In the mean time, be mindful of a few avalanche issues for today. First, avoid the areas with weak basal snow and lingering deep slab potential on the northwest through east facing aspects above about 9000’. These slides will likely step to the ground and will be difficult to survive. Slope cuts are rarely predictable or safe with this snow structure. And it may still be possible to trigger the avalanche from a distance, even from the flats. 24 Hrs Second, look for a few shallow new wind drifts from the gustier southwesterly winds over the next couple of days as the new drifts will be sitting on the weak surface snow. They’ll be found at the highest elevations on the lee of steep northwest through east facing slopes as well. While control work in upper Little Cottonwood still produced avalanches to the ground, no new activity or spooky reports came in from the backcountry. Bruce went up to investigate the three remotely triggered slides from Saturday, and Bob Athey went to look at the snow along the Park City. With a stagnant atmosphere, mountain temperatures remain inverted with overnight lows in the mid-to upper 30’s above 9500’. On the backside of the ridge of high pressure, winds are out of the south and southwest averaging 15-25mph with some local gusts into the 40’s. Riding conditions are ok on the upper elevation shady slopes while the sunny and off-aspects build into the first corn cycle of the year.
We’ll see increasing clouds and southwesterly winds over the next couple of days ahead of a Thanksgiving day cold front. 8000’ temps will skyrocket to the mid-50’s with 10k temps pushing into the mid-40’s. Winds will be 25-35 in the most exposed locations. Looks like we may be in for a regime change in the weather, optimistically forecasting a storm Thursday, late Saturday, and perhaps again late Tuesday.
The next FUAC fundraiser will be at Brewvies. “The Anomaly” by TGR is playing on Dec 7th, with two showings, at 7pm and 9pm. Advance tickets are available.To sign up for automated e-mails of our graphical advisory click HEREListen to the advisory. Try our new streaming audio or podcasts We appreciate any snowpack and avalanche observations, so please let us know by calling (801) 524-5304 or 1-800-662-4140, email uac@avalanche.org or fax 801-524-6301The 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.UDOT has a new avalanche website to give up-to-date info on canyon closures and avalanche control work. It's recommended to check this site prior to any early starts in the Cottonwoods or Provo Canyon.Early birds and dawn patrollers can call 1-888-999-4019x8 for our 6am early morning reports.Brett Kobernik will update this advisory on Tuesday morning by 730am. This advisory provided by the Wasatch Cache National Forest, 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 Salt Lake County
DISCLAIMER: Above is information on each factor affecting todays' danger rating. All factors must be considered to develop a backcountry travel plan that will reduce your risk.
The post was created using an automated process maintained by First Tracks! Online.