In partnership with: Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center, The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center and Utah State Parks.
Good morning, this is Craig Gordon
with the Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center with your avalanche and mountain
weather advisory for the western Uinta Mountains. Today is Saturday, February 5,
2005 and it’s 7:00 a.m.
Announcements:
Last nights fundraiser held at the Snowbird Ski Resort was an amazing success. All proceeds go to help
the wildly popular “Know Before You Go” avalanche education program.
Thank you very much for all the support!
A beacon-training center has been installed at the Nobletts trailhead and “Beacon Basin” up and running!
Many thanks go out to Backcountry Access for supplying all the equipment, Doug Page and all the
volunteers who provided manpower, Jim Conway who was the brains behind the operation, and the
Kamas and Heber Ranger Districts, along with State Parks and The Utah Snowmobile Association
for their in-kind support. Swing by and check it out before going on the snow. It’s free and within walking
distance from the parking lot.
The Moffit Peak weather station is back in operation. This site was made possible through generous donations
from BRORA and The Utah Snowmobile Association. You can view data by clicking here.
For recent avalanche photos click here.
Current Conditions:
A few high clouds
began moving into the region late last night as the leading edge of a weak
trough is working into the area. A stronger system is on tap for late Sunday.
Currently at 11,000’, temperatures are near 16 degrees and it’s in the mid 20’s
down along the trailheads. Winds picked up around 7:00 pm last night and have been
blowing steadily out of the northwest with hourly averages in the mid teens and
gusts in the low 20’s. While it seems like forever since we’ve seen a good shot
of new snow, the riding and sliding conditions remain quite good especially at
upper elevations on protected shady slopes. You’ll have to get kind of creative
though if you’re looking for untracked snow, because most popular slopes have seen
a lot of traffic.
Avalanche Conditions:
For those of you suffering from deep powder withdrawal… help is on the way. A winter storm warning is in effect for the region and snowfall should begin about midday tomorrow. While it’s been relatively quiet on the eastern front for sometime, I’d expect the avalanche danger to be increasing over the next few days. Looking into the future, there’s plenty of weak, recycled powder out there and this will provide a perfect layer for avalanches to fail on once the storm starts kicking in. For the time being though, today’s avalanche concerns are generally limited to the upper elevations where the winds have been busy over night, blowing snow around and forming new wind drifts. The new wind slabs could be up to a foot in depth, though they’ll be pretty much limited to the leeward side of the highest ridges. If you’re getting into steep upper elevation terrain today, a well-placed slope cut would be the ticket in order to avoid any surprises.
Bottom Line:
At low and mid elevations the avalanche danger is
generally LOW today. Both
human triggered and natural avalanches are unlikely.
In upper elevation terrain, above timberline, there
is a MODERATE avalanche danger
on slopes steeper than about 35 degrees, with recent deposits of wind-drifted
snow. Human triggered avalanches are possible.
Mountain Weather:
There is a winter
storm watch in effect for Sunday through Monday, but for today we should see
increasing clouds and an isolated flurry or two as a weak system skirts by the
area. High clouds this morning will gradually thicken throughout the day. Temperatures
will be cooling with highs at 10,000’ reaching into the mid 20’s and at 8,000’ near
freezing. Overnight lows will be in the upper teens. Winds will be dying down
later this morning and switching to the west and southwest, blowing less than
15 mph along the ridges. Sunday should be breezy and colder as a winter storm
works into the region. Winds will be out of the west, blowing 15-25 mph by the
afternoon, and we could see 3”-8” of new snow by sunset. An unsettled flow
should keep the weather active through about Tuesday and I’m thinking we should
wind up with a foot or two of new snow by the time this storm winds down.
General Information:
We’re interested in what
you’re seeing especially if you see or trigger an avalanche. Call
1-800-662-4140, or 801-231-2170, or email to [email protected]
or fax to 801-524-6301 and fill us in with all the details.
If you’d like to schedule a
free snowmobile specific avalanche talk and or a field day, please call
801-231-2170.
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. I will update this advisory by 7:30 a.m. on Sunday
Feb. 6, 2005.
Thanks for
calling!