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

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 November 22, 2003 and it’s 7:30 in the morning.

Current conditions:

Temperatures have dropped significantly overnight and currently it’s a toe-numbing 0 degrees at 10,000’. Winds are out of the north and northwest at speeds of 10-20 mph along the ridges. 9” of light density snow has fallen in the past 24 hrs above 9,000’. Coverage is still pretty thin with snow depths hovering close to 3’ above timberline. Trail riding or turns on a smooth grassy slope continues to be the best bet at this time.

Avalanche Conditions:

We’re off to a great early season start throughout most of the range and our snowpack is relatively homogenous for a change. Taking a quick look at this weeks weather events, Mondays vigorous storm produced just over a foot of much needed snow. The downside to this system was the hurricane force winds that ushered it in. The slab that was created overloaded a layer of surface hoar that developed in the first week of November resulting in a natural avalanche cycle on several steep upper elevation slopes throughout the range.

On Tuesday, an experienced, local backcountry snowmobiler triggered a slide on a steep northwest, facing slope just off of Hoyts Peak at about 10,000’ in elevation. The avalanche was 2-3’ deep, about 150’ wide, running several hundred vertical feet, and the weak layer was surface hoar. All the members of the group carried beacons, shovels, and probes. Fortunately the snowmobiler was able to ride out of the avalanche and though a bit shaken, came out unscathed.

The instabilities have strengthened quite a bit over the past few days and the snowpack is fairly welded in place. However there are still some isolated locations, especially above timberline where an avalanche triggered today could step down into deeper buried weak layers. The areas of most concern will be steep, upper elevation, wind loaded slopes, especially those that have a pre-existing snowpack. Be alert to the clues of instability such as “whumphing” sounds or cracking of the surface snow around your skis or machine.

In non-wind affected terrain the main concern today will be sluffing on steep slopes.

Bottom Line:

The avalanche danger is generally LOW today at mid and lower elevations and human triggered avalanches are unlikely.

At upper elevations, above timberline the avalanche danger is MODERATE on steep slopes with recent deposits of wind-drifted snow. Human triggered avalanches are possible.

Mountain Weather:

Today we can expect on and off snow showers, and cold temperatures. Highs today at 8,000’ will be near 15 degrees and at 10,000’ in the upper single digits. Overnight lows will be near zero. Winds will be out of the north through northwest in the 15-25 mph range along the ridges. We might be able to squeak a couple more inches of snow out of this system by the end of the day and Sunday should bring partly cloudy skies with a slight warming trend.

General Information:

We can always use snow information and observations from riders and skiers are a vital component to this program. So if you see or trigger an avalanche give us a call at 801-231-2170 or 1-800-662-4140.

Also, if you’d like to schedule a free avalanche awareness talk and/or field day give us a call at 801-524-5304.

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 on Sunday morning.

Thanks for calling.