Current-av ZCZC SLCWRKSNW SLR TTAAOO KSLC DDHHMM GOOD MORNING, THIS IS SETH SHAW WITH THE UTAH AVALANCHE FORECAST CENTER AND THIS IS YOUR BACKCOUNTRY AVALANCHE AND MOUNTAIN WEATHER ADVISORY FOR TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1995 AT 7:30 A.M. THE UTAH AVALANCHE FORECAST CENTER IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE FOREST SERVICE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE STATE OF UTAH, SALT LAKE COUNTY, THE FRIENDS OF THE UAFC, THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND THIS WEEK BY SALT LAKE ROASTING COMPANY, THE COFFEE EQUIVALENT TO UTAH DEEP POWDER, LOCATED DOWNTOWN AT 320 EAST ON 4OO SOUTH, OPEN 6 DAYS A WEEK, 18 HOURS A DAY, SERVING COFFEE WITHOUT COMPROMISE. BOTTOM LINE: MODERATE DANGER OF HUMAN TRIGGERED AVALANCHES ON ANY SLOPE STEEER THAN 35 DEGREES WITH RECENT DEPOSITS OF WIND DRIFTED SNOW. LOW DANGER ELSEWHERE. SLC, PARK CITY, PROVO: OVERNIGHT WE HAD A LOW OF AROUND 25 DEGREES AT 10,000 FEET AND WINDS WERE AVERAGING 20 TO 30 MPH ON THE RIDGES FROM THE SOUTHWEST. IT HAS BEEN SNOWING LIGHTLY FOR A FEW HOURS BUT HAS ONLY AMOUNTED TO A TRACE SO FAR. THERE IS A HIGH WIND WARNING IN EFFECT TODAY, EXPECT WINDS OF 50 MPH AND GREATER ON EXPOSED RIDGELINES. SKI AND BOARDING CONDITIONS ARE GOING TO BE ROUGH ABOVE TREELINE AS THE SNOW GETS HAMMERED BY HIGH WINDS AND WARM TEMPERATURES. SHELTERED AND GLADED SLOPES WILL BE THE BEST TODAY BUT THEY WILL ALSO BE EFFECTED BY WARM TEMPERATURES. TOMORROW MIGHT BE ALOT BETTER IF THE WINDS MELLOW OUT BEFORE THE BULK OF THE SNOW ARRIVES. AVALANCHE WISE: THE PRIMARY CONCERN FOR TODAY WILL BE SHALLOW WIND SLABS FORMING TO THE LEE OF RIDGES, SUB RIDGES AND AROUND GULLIES. AVOID SMOOTH ROUNDED SNOW ON LEEWARD SLOPES, AND HARD SNOW SURFACES THAT SOUND HOLLOW UNDER YOUR SKIES OR SNOWBOARD. ALSO WATCH FOR SLOPES THAT HAVE BEEN CROSS LOADED DOWN OFF THE RIDGELINES; THIS IS WHERE WIND BLOWS ACROSS A SLOPE DRIFTING SNOW BEHIND TERRAIN FEATURES SUCH AS SUB RIDGES AND AROUND GULLIES. I WOULD CALL THE DANGER OF HUMAN TRIGGERED AVALANCHES MODERATE TODAY ON SLOPES STEEPER THAN 35 DEGREES THAT HAVE RECENT DEPOSITS OF WIND DRIFTED SNOW, AND A LOW DANGER ELSEWHERE. AVALANCHE CONDITIONS WILL RISE ON WEDNESDAY AFTER A NEW LOAD OF SNOW PUTS STRESS BACK ON BURIED WEAK LAYERS. MOUNTAIN WEATHER: WARM AND VERY WINDY ARE THE WORDS FOR THE DAY. SNOW SHOWERS WILL TAPER OFF THIS MORNING GIVING WAY TO MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES. THE WINDS WILL BE CRANKING FROM THE SOUTHWEST ALL DAY. PRECIPITATION WILL START UP AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON WITH RAIN TO 9,000' AS THE WARM FRONT RACES BY, THE COOLER AIR WILL ARRIVE AFTER MIDNIGHT AND WILL DROP THE SNOWLINE TO 6,500' OR SO. FAVORED AREAS WILL PICK UP ABOUT A FOOT BY MID DAY TOMORROW. AS THE COLD FRONT ARRIVES THE WINDS WILL SHIFT TO THE WEST AND TAPER OFF TO LESS THAN 20 MPH BY MID DAY ON WEDNESDAY. SKIES SHOULD REMAIN CLOUDY WITH SNOW SHOWERS LIKEY FOR MOST OF THE DAY TOMORROW. AFTER THIS STORM IT LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER STORM SHOULD HIT US ON SATURDAY. WE WILL BE GIVING AN HOUR AND A HALF MULTI MEDIA AVALANCHE LECTURE TONIGHT NIGHT AT REI AT 7:00 PM. AND, IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN TAKING OTHER AVALANCHE CLASSES THIS WINTER, CALL US AT THE OFFICE AT 524-5304 AND WE'LL MAIL YOU A FREE LIST OF ALL THE COURSES AVAILABLE IN UTAH. (READ IF THERE'S TIME:) ALSO REMEMBER THAT THE OLD FREQUENCY BEACONS ARE SEROUSLY OUT OF DATE AND MANY OF THE PEOPLE IN THE BACKCOUNTRY--INCLUDING THE RESCUE CREW--CAN'T HEAR YOUR HEAR YOU IF YOU HAVE AN OLD, SINGLE FREQUENCY BEACON. IT IS CHRISTMAS, AFTER ALL, AND THE NEW BEACONS COST AS LITTLE AS $205 ONE NEW SALT LAKE AREA OUTDOOR STORE. IF THERE'S ANYTHING WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT IN THE WAY OF SNOW OR AVALANCHE CONDITIONS PLEASE CALL 524-5304, OR IF YOU'RE CALLING LONG DISTANCE, 1-800-662-4140. FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION CALL 364-1591 CAROL WILL UPDATE THIS FORECAST BY 7:30 ON WEDNESDAY MORNING. THANKS FOR CALLING. OGDEN: ABOUT 20" BASE AT 8,000 FEET. 30" AT 9,000. 2 INCHES NEW. MODERATE DANGER OF HUMAN TRIGGERED SLIDES ON ALL SLOPES WITH DEPOSITS OF WIND DRIFTED SNOW. CONDITIONS ON MT.OGDEN THIS MORNING: 25 DEGREES AT 6 A.M., WITH A LOW OF 25 DEGREES LAST NIGHT AND WINDS ABOUT 40 MPH FROM THE SOUTHWEST. LOGAN: SNOW COVER AT 9,000' 36-48 INCHES DEEP. 3 TO 6 INCHES NEW ABOVE 8,000 AND 20" NEW SO FAR THIS MONTH. SNOW COVERED ABOVE 8000', ON NW-NE FACING SLOPES. APPROACHES STILL DIFFICULT, INVOLVING TRAVEL THROUGH ROCKS, MUD AND BRUSH. FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL 797-4146. BACKCOUNTRY OBSERVERS CALL: 797-4145. SHAW NNNN [Submitted by: Meteorology Data Account (ldm@atmos.met.utah.edu) Tue, 12 Dec 1995 21:30:09 -0700]