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, March 9, 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. While the Evanston side of the range as well the Daniels area didn’t receive as much snow as the central Uinta Mountains, recent avalanche activity is similar to what we’re seeing.

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, March 9, 2003, and it’s 7:30 in the morning.

Current Conditions:

It looks like another windy day is on tap for the region. Westerly winds continue to blow with hourly wind speed averages in the 20’s and gusts in the high 30’s along the ridges. Skies are clear and temperatures are in the mid 20’s at 10,000’. No new snow has fallen in the past 24 hours, though many parts of the range received close to 2’ of new snow this past week. Many of the upper elevation wind exposed slopes are severely wind damaged and yesterday’s strong sunshine has crusted the south facing aspects. However, excellent riding and turning conditions still exist on mid elevation, protected slopes.

Avalanche Conditions:

Yesterday proved to be an exciting day for avalanche activity with both natural and human triggered avalanches reported throughout the range. At least 5 snowmobile-triggered avalanches took place, which we know of, and fortunately no one was injured. All of these events occurred on steep, wind loaded slopes above timberline. The avalanches were up to 100’ wide, averaging 2’-3’ in depth, and were running within the new snow.

With unlimited visibility for the first time all week, Saturday was also a great day to get out and do some avalanche sightseeing. While there were no major surprises, the clear skies revealed just how extensive our natural avalanche cycle was. One of the more impressive natural avalanches reported occurred in ‘The Super Bowl’. This slide was up to 1000’ wide, the crown averaged 2’-3’ feet in depth, and a tremendous amount of snow piled up in the run-out zone.

If you’re into looking at avalanches, take a ride up the Mirror Lake Highway today and check out the huge slide on the south and east aspects of Bald Mountain. This hard slab avalanche occurred sometime Thursday and is 3’-5’ deep, 500’ wide, and ran for about 600’ vertical feet. All of these avalanches are overrunning low angle terrain, which we would normally think of as areas of safety.

Many steep slopes that didn’t avalanche are hanging in the balance waiting for the right trigger to come along and tip the scales. As the snow gains strength it will provide a false sense of security, allowing a backcountry traveler to get further out onto the slope before it fails. Should you be unfortunate enough to trigger one of these monster slides today, the results could be devastating. With so much good riding and skiing available on lower angle slopes, the consequences aren’t worth the reward of getting into the steeper terrain.

While much of the avalanche activity in the past few days has been confined to terrain above tree line, the winds have been strong enough to move snow around even at mid elevations. With several days of strong sustained winds, slabs have formed in some unusual areas. Look for wind drifts around terrain features such as chutes, gullies, and sub-ridges, and a lot of mid slope loading has occurred as well. In addition, cornices have become large and unstable and could break back a lot further than you might expect.

The sun is getting strong these days and that will increase the possibility of wet avalanches on sun-exposed aspects throughout the day. You’ll want to get off of and out from under steep, sunny slopes as the day progresses.

It’s imperative to continue practicing your safe travel techniques this weekend. Ride or ski a slope one at a time, get out of the way and into a safe location at the bottom of the slope, and always keep an eye on your partner. In addition, carry the appropriate rescue gear such as an avalanche beacon, shovel, and probe and know how to use these tools.

Bottom Line:

The avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE today on all steep slopes with recent deposits of wind blown snow. Human triggered avalanches are probable and natural avalanches are possible.

In the more protected terrain at mid elevations, the avalanche danger is MODERATE on all slopes steeper than about 35 degrees. Human triggered avalanches are possible in this type of terrain.

Even if you’re playing on low angle terrain this weekend be aware of steep slopes above and adjacent to you.

Mountain Weather:

A westerly flow will remain over the region through midweek. Today we can expect high clouds at times and warm temperatures. Highs today at 10,000’ will be in the low 30’s and at 8,000’ close to 40 degrees. Overnight lows will dip into the mid 20’s. Winds will be out of the west and southwest today and tonight at speeds of 20-30 mph along the ridges. On Monday we can expect increasing clouds with a chance of snow developing on Tuesday although it looks like a pretty weak system. Wednesday and Thursday should be mostly sunny with the possibility of another shot of snow arriving sometime Friday.

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. Your observations could help to save someone’s life. I’ve received some great observations this past week and thanks to those of you who called in with timely snowpack and avalanche information. Please keep them coming!

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, March 15, 2003.

Thanks for calling!