Avalanche News - 2005

Avalanche Came Down on Lot Awaiting Development

3/31/2005 - An avalanche that roared 2,000 feet down Loafer Mountain in Woodland Hills came to a halt on a $200,000 residential building lot recently sold for development.

The lot is now covered in 35 feet of snow.

The avalanche Wednesday evening stopped less than 100 feet from a vacant home that is up for sale, said Utah County sheriff's Sgt. Darren Gilbert.

Three families in homes nearby were advised to evacuate for the night, said Kent Compton of the county's search and rescue team.

It appeared that part of the avalanche had been caught on a precipice halfway down the mountain, leaving it hanging above the area and presenting a continuing danger, he said.

Woodland Hills Mayor Toby Harding said eight lots are for sale in the immediate vicinity of the avalanche.

Asked if the city still will allow homes to be built on the lots, Harding said there were no clear answers.

"We have lots of questions," he said. "We'll get the answers as soon as we can."

Avalanche Threatens Homes In Woodland Hills Development
Mar. 31, 2005

An avalanche last night covered a building lot in a new development in Utah County. Sam Penrod has more on this major slide.

It really was a massive slide that came down the mountain and into Woodland Hills. And it seems the slide started on its own, which shows how unstable the snow can be right now.

When this avalanche slid down the mountain last night nearly into a neighborhood in Woodland Hills, it gave residents something new to worry about.

Mike Reid, Resident: "EVERY SUMMER WE'RE A LITTLE BIT NERVOUS ABOUT FIRES, FIRE RISK AND FIRE DANGER, SO THIS IS A CHANGE OF PACE, TO NOW WORRY ABOUT AVALANCHES."

Sam Penrod, "THIS IS WHERE THE AVALANCHE FINALLY STOPPED AND YOU CAN SEE THE SLIDE IS AT LEAST 40 FEET DEEP."

Lt. Dave Bennett, Utah County Sheriff's Office: "THE STARTING ZONE IS RIGHT AT THE VERY TOP OF THIS PEAK, I THINK IT'S 10,400 FEET AND IT LOOKS LIKE ABOUT 1/4 MILE WIDE AND A LOT OF SNOW CAME OFF THE MOUNTAIN AND RAN, PROBABLY A MILE UNTIL IT REACHED THIS POINT."

The slide stopped in this 200-thousand dollar building lot which was recently sold. City officials say avalanche studies were conducted before the development was built, but now there will be a new evaluation.

Toby Harding, Mayor of Woodland Hills: "AFTER WE'VE CAREFULLY EVALUATED EVERYTHING WE COULD FIND OUT AND DECIDE WHAT BEST COURSE OF ACTION IS, OUR PRIMARY INTEREST WILL BE IN ENSURING THE SAFETY AND HEALTH AND WELFARE OF OUR RESIDENTS."

Authorities were surprised at how big the avalanche was and how far it slid, but say snow all over Utah is very unstable right now.

Lt. Dave Bennett: "THIS CAN BE ONE OF THE WORST TIMES OF THE YEAR, WHEN WE GET A LOT OF WET SLIDES AND PEOPLE NEED TO BE CAUTIOUS ABOUT BEING IN KNOWN AVALANCHE PATHS."

Residents say after seeing an avalanche up close they realize how dangerous they can be.

Mike Reid: "THIS IS MY FIRST TIME TO EVER BE THIS CLOSE TO AN AVALANCHE AND WALK UP TO IT, IT'S AN AWESOME SIGHT TO SEE WHAT NATURE CAN DO."

Authorities are asking the owners of four homes in the area, to leave their houses during the afternoon for a couple of days, just as a precaution, in case another slide is triggered.

Avalanche rages down Loafer Mountain
Caleb Warnock DAILY HERALD

A massive 210-foot-wide avalanche roared 2,000 feet down Loafer Mountain in Woodland Hills at 4:40 p.m. Wednesday, grinding to a halt in a grove of Gambel oak on a $200,000 residential building lot that was recently sold for development.

The avalanche stopped less than 100 feet away from a Parade of Homes home across the road that was not evacuated because it was vacant and for sale, said Sgt. Darren Gilbert of the Utah County Sheriff's Office.

Three other families in homes nearby were advised to evacuate for the night, said Kent Compton, Utah County Search and Rescue team leader. It appeared that part of the avalanche had been caught on a precipice halfway down the mountain, leaving it hanging above the area.

"Tomorrow if it warms up, we'll have another round of hazard," Compton said. "I would advise the three homeowners to sleep elsewhere tonight. Each day it warms up and cools off there could be danger."

The avalanche will be checked by emergency crews again today, said Woodland Hills Mayor Toby Harding. Fearing that more avalanches could come down in other narrow, steep mountain ravines nearby, those will be checked, too.

Had a home been built on the lot where the avalanche came to rest, it seemed apparent that it would have been destroyed.

"I'll just say that we're lucky there wasn't a home in the path of the avalanche," Gilbert said. "If there would have been, there could have been property damage or loss of life."

Eight lots are for sale in the immediate vicinity of the avalanche, Harding said. When asked if the city would still allow homes to be built on the lots, Harding said there were no clear answers.

"We have lots of questions," he said. "We'll get the answers as soon as we can."

Search and rescue crews found two sets of tracks leading to the avalanche area and were initially afraid people could have been caught in the slide. A news helicopter was asked to fly the area looking for people, and about a dozen searchers with rescue dogs also went into the slide area.

Rescuers put out a call for missing persons but received no reports. It was determined that the tracks were probably made before the slide happened; no one was believed trapped in the slide. Rescuers were called off at nightfall.

No one should go into the area, Gilbert said.

Recent snowfall could pose danger for many homes along the mountain benches in Utah Valley -- not from avalanches, but from flooding, said BYU weather station overseer David James.

"Needless to say, we hope that there will be a slow snowmelt this spring in the mountains," he said. "If it melts too fast, there could be flooding problems."

High temperatures in the valley will be in the 50s on Thursday and Friday, warming into the 60s for the weekend, he said.

Pleasant Grove has about 1,000 sandbags already filled and ready in case water comes down off the mountains above the city, said City Manager Frank Mills. Debris basins and flood channels have been cleared, and the mountainside will be monitored seven days a week. A calling tree also has been organized.

In Santaquin, where a massive mudslide destroyed one home and damaged at least a dozen others in September 2002, the city has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars building diversion channels and retention basins in case more flooding happens, said City Manager Stefan Chatwin.

Many areas of Utah County saw heavy snowfall Wednesday because of lake-effect snow, James said.

"In some areas, it was snowing at a rate of 2 to 3 inches per hour," he said.

Combined snowfall totals from Tuesday and Wednesday included 11 inches in Alpine, 10 inches in Cedar Hills and 9 inches in Pleasant Grove, most of which fell Wednesday morning, he said.

"Once the sun broke out during the afternoon, the snow melted quite rapidly," he said. "There were up to 5 inches in shady areas while a few yards away, the green grass was showing."

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