Avalanche News - Dec 05 , 2023
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Lots of Avalanches and Avalanche Risk
Thanks to a recent large storm with heavy wet snow there are lots of local news stories about local hazards in the western US. (Europe has also had some heavy snow and resulting activity and danger.) We don't (and can't) include all of this local information, which is best found in local advisories. In many areas in regions such as Colorado and Utah this snow fell onto a very weak layer of "depth hoar" which often forms at the beginning of the season. In mid or lower elevations rain may have fallen on this layer and saturated it, allowing for the possibility of an ice layer later. This base and the potential for the near-term danger was discussed in our first two videos of the season.
More ... (Avalanche Center Youtube Channel)
UDOT tests canyon avalanche closure system
Tuesday, Dec 05: Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) is implementing a temporary closure of Little Cottonwood Canyon for avalanche mitigation. This closure, the first of the season, is described by UDOT as a test for their systems.
More ... (KUTV)
Avalanche Activity Closes Snowbird on the Weekend
Monday, Dec 04: Snowbird, Utah, has seen over four feet of snow this past week. The resort was forced to close all its lifts besides Chickadee due to high avalanche danger. Chickadee is the beginners lift, and even this area has been affected in the recent past. Snowbird had previously opened on Thursday, November 30th, opening Gadzoom, Chickadee, and the Aerial Tram for eager skiers.
More ... (Powder)
What is an ocean avalanche?
We usually limit news specifically to snow avalanches but this article may be of interest to some subscribers.
In 1929, an ‘avalanche’ shifted more than twice the volume of Mt Everest – but nobody saw it! Why? Because it was entirely underwater. When there’s no snow involved, scientists call such an event a “turbidity current flow”. Back in 1929, an earthquake triggered one of these massive underwater flows at the Grand Banks, in Newfoundland in eastern Canada. The bottom of the ocean there was quite flat and hardly sloped at all – just one-quarter of a degree. Even so, this slope was enough to allow the sediment already sitting on the ocean floor to slide downhill at nearly 70km/h. By the time the underwater avalanche stopped, some 800km out to sea, it had shifted about 200km3 of sand, mud, and organic material – more than twice the volume of Mt Everest.
More ... (Australian Geographic)
