Tuesday, february 27, 2001, 07:30 a.m. Good morning, this is Ethan Greene with the Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center with your backcountry avalanche and mountain weather advisory. Today is Tuesday, February 27, and its about 7:30 in the morning. Current Conditions: Overnight temperatures dipped into the mid teens in the mountain valleys and high single digests along higher ridgelines. Winds have been generally less than 10 mph from the west in mountain valleys. Ridgecrest wind speeds have been from the west in the 10 to 15 mph range. The snow surface has been damaged by sun and wind in some exposed areas, but for the most part the soft settled snow remains intact. Riding and turning conditions remain excellent in many locations and trail breaking is getting less arduous. Avalanche Conditions: We are now a day or two past our first decent strom cycle in what seemed like forever. As each day passes the snow has more time to adjust to the new load and the avalanche danger is decreasing. Prior to this last storm cycle the snowpack characteristics that affect stability changed dramatically throughout our forecast area, and this complex stability pattern continues to plague us today. Yesterday there were several natural avalanches and one human triggered avalanche reported from the Provo Mountains. In the Mary Ellen and Silver Creek areas both natural and explosive released avalanches were reported. These slides were on steep easterly aspects, breaking 3 to 4 feet deep and about 300 wide. There were also two large natural avalanches reported from the White Pine area in Little Cottonwood Canyon. These avalanches probably occurred on Sunday on steep northeast slopes below and adjacent to White Baldy. They broke 8 to 9 feet deep and one to three hundred feet wide. The bottom line is, there are many areas where it is possible to travel safely even in steep terrain. However areas also remain where it is possible to trigger large and dangerous avalanches. Where the snowpack has been relatively deep all winter the snow is more stable. These types of areas include upper Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons and possibly the Ogden Mountains. Areas with a thinner snowpack, such as the Provo Mountains, Park City Ridgeline, and the American Fork area, are more dangerous. Any slope that has seen repeated avalanche activity or repeated wind scouring should be treated with the utmost caution. Remember during the strom cycle the strongest winds were from the southwest so look for wind loading on northeast aspects. Bottom Line: Today the danger of human triggered avalanches is CONSIDERABLE in the Park City, American Fork, and Provo Mountains on wind loaded slopes steeper than about 35 degrees. In these areas human triggered avalanches are probable. Within the Cottonwood Canyons and the Ogden Mountains the avalanche danger is MODERATE on wind loaded slopes steeper than about 35 degrees. In many areas on slopes less than about 35 degrees in steepness the avalanche danger is LOW. Remember in areas with a low or moderate danger, human triggered avalanches are NOT impossible. During the past few months we have seen numerous fifty-foot wide avalanches triggered by winter enthusiasts, but within the past few days some of the human triggered avalanches have been 200 to 1000 feet wide. Mountain Weather: A low-pressure trough, currently over the Midwest, will form a closed circulation and move to the southwest during the next few days. This is feature will cause the flow over northern Utah to be generally from the east beginning later today through Wednesday. High temperatures today will be near 30-degrees at 8,000 and mid teens at 10,000. Winds will shift from the northwest to northeast during the day but should remain light at most mountain locations. East winds near the canyon mouths in the 20 mph range are possible especially in the morning hours. Drainages to the north of the I-80 corridor are most likely to be affected. Other: 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. Carol Ciliberti will update this advisory by 7:30 on Wednesday morning.