Wasatch Cache National Forest AVALANCHE ADVISORY Monday, April 03, 2006 7:30 am Good morning, this is Drew Hardesty with the Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center with your backcountry avalanche and mountain weather advisory. Today is Monday, April 03, 2006, and it’s about 7:30 am. Current Conditions: With the next impressive looking storm on its way, temperatures are on an upward march and the southerly winds have started to pick up. The southeasterly winds averaged 25-30mph with gusts to 45 for most of the night and freezing levels hover around the 9000’. At least on Tuesday it’ll rain to near 9500’ and be even windier. Never fear, the storm looks impressive into early Thursday. Recent Avalanche Activity & Snowpack Discussion: The poor bond of Saturday and Saturday night’s wind drifts was accentuated by the warming trend yesterday and avalanche activity remained brisk into the afternoon. It may have been borderline ‘considerable’ with the 8+ reported human triggered slides from the backcountry including three close calls. Skiers were caught in carried in Day’s Draw, the Brighton backcountry near Figure 8 Hill, and on west facing Patsy Marley. Another skier rode another boxcar down into Days Fork, losing some gear. A few wind drifts along the lee ridge and subridges will still remain active at the upper elevations today. Moderate to strong ridgetop winds will have moved some more snow around overnight and the same west through north through east facing aspects will be suspect. The same rules will apply. Cornice drops, slope cuts, and test slopes will continue to reveal good information along with quick hand pits on representative slopes. The cloud cover and warm overnight temperatures will spike the wet action today and allow the mid to lower elevation shady slopes to get into the action. The cloud cover may vary depending on where you are in the range, so watch for intensifying wet sluff and slab activity on the steep saturated slopes, particularly when the sun shines through. Bottom Line: The avalanche danger remains MODERATE on steep upper elevation wind drifted slopes. Non wind affected slopes have a mostly LOW danger. The danger of wet activity on the sunny aspects of all elevations and on the mid and low elevations of the shady slopes is MODERATE this morning and may rise to CONSIDERABLE with daytime heating. Mountain Weather: Overcast skies will thin this afternoon and we may see some sun breaks by the afternoon. Winds will blow 20-25mph from the southwest today. 8000’ highs will rocket into the low 50’s as 10k temps jump to 35 degrees. Precipitation will initially fall as rain tomorrow with heavy snow at times through Thursday. 2-3” of water/water equivalent may shape up to be 2+ feet of snow in favored locales.