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, December 6, 2003 and it’s 7:30 a.m. We will be giving a free avalanche awareness talk tonight at 5:00 p.m. The location is Honda-Suzuki of Salt Lake, which is on 2354 S. State Street.

Current conditions:

Under mostly cloudy skies temperatures remained warm overnight and currently it’s in the low 30’s at 10,000’. The big news is the wind and it’s been cranking out of the southwest at speeds of 25-40 mph along the upper elevation ridgelines since about midnight. Warm temperatures this past week have had a dramatic effect on snow depths, especially at lower elevations where trailheads have gotten pretty thin. Though no new snow has fallen in the past 24 hours it’s not as grim as it might seem. Good recrystalized powder conditions can still be found on protected, north facing, mid and upper elevation slopes.

Avalanche Conditions:

The clear weather this week has begun to take its toll on our snowpack and we have several avalanche concerns to think about this weekend, as there’s a good-looking storm at the doorstep. While the weather and riding conditions are a bit of a mixed bag it’s a good day to get out and take a look at the snowpack before the storm arrives.

First off, at the surface the snow has grown weak through a process known as diurnal recrystalization. This produces near surface facets and this weak snow won’t be able to withstand much of a load before it fails. So the new snow/old snow interface will be the most immediate concern as the storm evolves.

Secondly, in areas that have a shallow snowpack the snow near the ground has grown weak as well. These weaknesses are most prevalent in rocky, mid and upper elevation terrain where total snow depths are less than about 3’.

And finally, there are plenty of slick crusts out there at all elevations and these will provide ideal bed surfaces for avalanches to run on.

While things are relatively quiet in the avalanche world right now, be aware that today’s strong winds will most likely find enough snow to blow around and form shallow and pockety wind drifts along the lee side of mid and upper elevation ridges. With more snow and wind forecast the avalanche danger will be on the rise this weekend.

Bottom Line:

The avalanche danger is generally LOW today on all aspects and at all elevations. Both natural and human triggered avalanches are unlikely.

Mountain Weather:

There is a winter storm warning in effect for the region this afternoon into Sunday and it looks like we’ll see a decent shot of snow. For today we’ll be under the influence of a mild and moist southwest flow. Skies will be mostly cloudy and winds will be strong and out of the southwest at speeds of 30-45 mph along the upper elevation ridges. Temperatures will be cooling throughout the day with highs at 10,000’ in the low 30’s and at 8,000’ near 35 degrees. Overnight lows will be in the upper 20’s. We should see light snow showers throughout the day and then it’ll get interesting tonight when the cold front arrives. Snow will increase in intensity early Sunday as we get under the influence of a northwest flow. Snow, heavy at times, is expected on Sunday and storm totals look to be in the 10”-16” range before things wind down on Monday.

General Information:

We can always use snow and avalanche information and your observations are an important 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.

This advisory will be updated by 7:30 a.m. on Sunday morning.

Thanks for calling.