Wasatch Cache and Uinta National Forests

In partnership with: Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center, The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center and Utah State Parks.

Avalanche advisory

SunDAY January 26,2003

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 including but not limited to the terrain surrounding Chalk Creek, Smith-Moorehouse, the Mirror Lake Highway, and Woodland. Recent observations near the Daniels area indicate a similar though possibly weaker snowpack, then what we’re seeing in the Central Uintas. On the Evanston side of the range the snowpack remains quite shallow and weak, especially at lower elevations. The unusually thin snowpack has led to some unfortunate and costly snowmobile damage.

This advisory is made possible through a generous grant provided by Utah State Parks and will be available for the rest of the winter on weekends and holidays.

Today is Sunday, January 26, 2003, and it’s 7:30 in the morning. 

Current Conditions:

Skies are starting to clear, temperatures are in the low 20’s, and winds are light and westerly blowing at speeds of 5-15 mph along the ridges.

Just a trace of new snow has fallen in the past 24 hrs and the snow surface remains a mix of old tracks, wind crusts, and just plain tired old snow. However, off the beaten track, soft settled powder conditions can still be found in wind-sheltered terrain.

Avalanche Conditions:

The heat wave continues to strengthen the snowpack, though at lower elevations and in areas where there is a shallow snowpack its effects are fairly negligible. On shady slopes below about 8,500’ in elevation the snowpack in many areas is so uncohesive it’s like riding in a sand box.

At upper elevations above tree line, old hard, wind slabs overlay weak, faceted snow. While these slabs have relaxed quite a bit over time, there could still be some isolated areas where they would react to the additional weight of a backcountry traveler. Upper elevation slopes that are steep, rocky, and leeward would be likely suspects.

While avalanche activity has calmed down quite a bit in the past week or so, the overall trend of a consistently weak and shallow snowpack will come back to haunt us once old man winter returns from his hiatus.

Bottom Line:

The avalanche danger is generally LOW at or below timberline on slopes less steep than about 35 degrees. Above timberline, pockets of MODERATE avalanche danger still exist on steep, leeward slopes and human triggered avalanches are possible.

Mountain Weather:

Skies should begin to clear out this morning, as high pressure moves across the area today. This will produce another spring-like day for the region. High temperatures at 10,000’ will be in the low to mid 30’s and at 8,000’ near 45 degrees. Overnight lows will be in the upper 20’s. Winds will be light and out of the west during the day, and should start to increase towards evening in advance of an approaching system. On Monday we can expect increasing clouds and moderate winds with a chance of snow, though once again I don’t expect we’ll see much in the way of any significant accumulation. If we’re lucky, maybe we can squeak 2”-4” of snow out of this system. The remainder of the week looks dry and mild.

General Information:

If you’re getting out and about please let us know 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. The more information we receive the more concise a forecast we can issue and your observations could help to save someone’s life.

Thanks to those of you who called in with timely and accurate snowpack observations this week!

We will be offering free snowmobile specific avalanche education this year. To schedule a 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 Saturday, February 1, 2003.

Thanks for calling!