A warning from the Utah Avalanche Center has been issued after a slide on Christmas Eve buried a man in Cache County before he was rescued by his brother.
A warning from the Utah Avalanche Center has been issued after a slide on Christmas Eve buried a man in Cache County before he was rescued by his brother.Officials have issued an avalanche watch, but they believe they’ll have to issue warnings later as more snow comes in.
Man saves brother swept up, buried by avalanche with just fingers sticking out of snow Officials with the center said four slides were observed on Christmas Day, and another five were seen on Tuesday, including one that briefly buried a man in Cache County. As Utahns look to the slopes, they might think there really isn’t a lot of snow on the mountains. Utah Avalanche Center Forecaster Craig Gordon said that’s part of the problem. Gordon said, “So, the December dry spell actually developed a weak layer in our snowpack and now we’re going to overload that with dense, heavy snow. It’s like an upside-down cake. Strong snow on weak snow, that’s always a dangerous combination in our mountains.” According to Gordon, the bottom layer of snow is so weak, a slide could easily be triggered by someone skiing or snowmobiling at the bottom of a slope and they don’t even have to be close for that to happen — that’s why they’re telling people to avoid areas with overhanging snow. “We’re going to be able to trigger avalanches from a distance. We won’t even have to be on the slope in order to kick the legs out from underneath it. We expect avalanche danger to rise to high in the next couple of days,” he said.“Utah AVE is advising folks to stay off of and out from under steep wind-drifted slopes. Those are going to the slopes that face the north half of the compass," he said. However, if you decide to head out into the back country, Gordon said you need to be ready to assist in your own rescue. “That means wearing and knowing how to use an avalanche transceiver, a shovel and a probe. But, remember, any avalanche we trigger right now is going to break deep, it’s going to break wide. It’s going to reveal stumps, deadfall and rocks,” Gordon said. He added the conditions could be much worse in the northern part of the state compared to the south, so he said everyone should check their local conditions before they go to the back country.
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