ZCZC SLCWRKSNW SLR TTAA00 KSLC DDHHMM GOOD MORNING, THIS IS BRUCE TREMPER WITH THE UTAH AVALANCHE FORECAST CENTER WITH YOUR BACKCOUNTRY AVALANCHE AND MOUNTAIN WEATHER ADVISORY. TODAY IS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 1996 AT 7:00 A.M. WE ARE BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE FOREST SERVICE, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NATIONAL WX SERVICE, THE STATE OF UTAH, AND SALT LAKE COUNTY. BOTTOM LINE: LOW OR ISOLATED DANGER OF HUMAN TRIGGERED AVALANCHES. IF WE GET STRONG WINDS TODAY, A MODERATE DANGER ON STEEP SLOPES WITH RECENT DEPOSITS OF WIND DRIFTED SNOW. YESTERDAY I FOUND YET ANOTHER VERY GOOD DAY OF SKIING, SNOWBOARDING AND SNOWMOBILING CONDITIONS WITH A FOOT OF SOFT, SOMEWHAT SETTLED POWDER ON THE NORTHERLY FACING SLOPES, SUNNY SKIES, COOL TEMPERATURES AND GOOD COMPANY. I WOULD RANK IT A 7 OR 8 ON A SCALE OF 10. AND BEST OF ALL THERE WERE VERY FEW OTHER PEOPLE OUT IN THE BACKCOUNTRY. SLOPES OTHER THAN NORTHWEST THROUGH NORTHEAST HAD VARIOUS KINDS OF TRICKY SUN CRUSTS. AVALANCHE WISE: THERE'S NOT MUCH GOING ON IN THE AVALANCHE DEPARTMENT WHICH IS JUST THE WAY I LIKE IT. I WOULD CALL IT A LOW DANGER OF HUMAN TRIGGERED AVALANCHES ONCE AGAIN TODAY. BUT THERE ARE A COUPLE CAVEATS. THERE'S STILL SOME VERY ISOLATED AREAS OF WIND SLABS ON STEEP WIND EXPOSED SLOPES. ONE PERSON WAS ABLE TO TRIGGER ONE OF THESE AT MID ELEVATION IN COALPIT YESTERDAY WHICH IS IN LOWER LITTLE COTTONWOOD CANYON. IT BROKE OUT ABOUT 6 INCHES DEEP, 20 FEET WIDE AND RAN ONLY ABOUT 40 FEET. ALSO TODAY IF THE WINDS START BLOWING HARD, IT MAY CREATE A FEW MORE ISOLATED AREAS OF WIND SLABS. IN OTHER WORDS, IF THE WINDS BLOW HARD TODAY, IT WILL MAKE A MODERATE DANGER OF HUMAN TRIGGERED AVALANCHES ON ANY STEEP SLOPES WITH RECENT DEPOSITS OF WIND DRIFTED SNOW. AS ALWAYS, THEY WILL LOOK SMOOTH AND ROUNDED AND SOMETIMES ARE HOLLOW SOUNDING. MOUNTAIN WEATHER: WE HAVE ANOTHER STORM ON THE WAY FOR THURSDAY NIGHT WHICH LOOKS AT FIRST GLANCE LIKE IT WILL BE GOOD FOR ABOUT A FOOT OF SNOW IN THE FAVORED AREAS. TODAY WE SHOULD HAVE THE USUAL KIND OF WEATHER WHICH PRECEDES STORMS AROUND HERE--INCREASING SOUTHWEST RIDGETOP WINDS, INCREASING HIGH CLOUDS AND INCREASINGLY WARM TEMPERATUES. THIS MORNING THE RIDGETOP WINDS ARE BLOWING 15-36 MPH FOR HOURLY AVERAGES FROM THE SOUTHWEST AND THE RIDGETOP TEMPERATURES ARE UP IN THE MID 20'S THIS MORNING AFTER BEING IN THE MID TEENS YESTERDAY. BY TONIGHT AN ESPECIALLY ON THURSDAY MORNING, THE RIDGETOP WINDS SHOULD BE GETTING UP AROUND 40 MPH FROM THE SOUTHWEST WITH RIDGETOP TEMPERATUES AROUND 30 DEGREES. 8,000' TEMPERATURES SHOULD BE UP IN THE UPPER 30'S TODAY. CLOUDS WILL CONTINUE TO THICKEN AND LOWER AND BY MID DAY THURSDAY LIGHT PRECIPITATION SHOULD START IN THE MOUNTAINS. THE RAIN-SNOW LINE WILL START OUT UP AROUND 7,500- 8,000' ON THURSDAY AND DROP TO NEAR THE VALLEY FLOOR ON FRIDAY. THEN FOR THE EXTENDED FORECAST, IT LOOKS LIKE FAIRLY GOOD WEATHER FOR NEXT WEEKEND. WITH PERHAPS A VERY WEAK DISTURBANCE ABOUT A WEEK FROM NOW. READ WHEN THERE'S TIME: YOU CAN ACCESS THIS ADVISORY ON THE INTERNET AT SEVERAL LOCATIONS INCLUDING HTTP://WWW.MET.UTAH.EDU. REMEMBER THAT WE CAN'T BE EVERYWHERE AT ONCE SO WE DEPEND ON PEOPLE LIKE YOU TO REPORT ANYTHING WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT IN THE WAY OF AVALANCHE ACTIVITY. PLEASE LEAVE A MESSAGE ON OUR MACHINE AT 524-5304, OR IF YOU'RE CALLING LONG DISTANCE, 1-800-662-4140. LOGAN: 797-4145 FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION CALL 364-1591 TOM KIMBROUGH WILL UPDATE THIS FORECAST BY 7:00 FRIDAY MORNING. THANKS FOR CALLING TREMPER NNNN