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 27, 2003 and it’s 7:30 a.m.

Current conditions:

Storm totals have been pretty impressive with nearly 3’ of snow falling throughout the range in the past 48 hours. Temperatures have dropped significantly overnight and currently it’s -2 degrees at 10,000’. Winds are out of the northwest at speeds of 10-20 mph along the ridges. Probably some of the best powder riding and turning conditions of the year will be found this weekend. However, trail breaking will be a chore for motorized users and a Herculean event on skis.

Avalanche Conditions:

The recent combination of heavy snow and strong winds has prompted me to continue the AVALANCHE WARNING for the western Uinta Mountains. The avalanche danger is HIGH today on slopes steeper than 35 degrees at mid and upper elevations. Both human triggered and natural avalanches are likely. People without well-developed avalanche skills should avoid avalanche terrain and avalanche run-out zones. A tremendous amount of weight has been added to our tender snowpack in a short period and it will take some time for the pack to adjust to this rapid load.

On a sad note, a large natural avalanche occurred yesterday in the Aspen Grove area of the Provo Mountains. Seven people were involved and four are still missing. Details are still being ironed out and I’ll post them when they become available.

Strong winds have been hard at work the past few days, building deep and sensitive wind slabs at both mid and upper elevations. While many steep slopes have avalanched naturally there are plenty out there hanging in the balance waiting for the right trigger to come along. Once triggered, today’s avalanches have the possibility of breaking into buried weak layers near the ground, especially in terrain where the snowpack is shallow and weak. This would produce a large, scary, and possibly unsurvivable avalanche. In addition, avalanches will be running farther than you might expect and could overrun into low angle terrain and traditional ‘safe’ zones.

On steep non-wind affected slopes at mid and lower elevations the snow is sluffing easily and these sluffs are running fast and far, stacking up unusually deep piles of debris.

We’ve all been chomping at the bit waiting for a storm such as this; however if you’re getting out and about today you’ll need to utilize all your safe travel skills today. Only one person should be on the slope at a time, have an escape route planned, and communicate this with your partners. Needless to say, we should all be carrying beacons, shovels, and probes and should know how to use them.

Even during times of high avalanche danger there are plenty of low angle slopes to play on. However, be aware of steep slopes above and adjacent to you.

Bottom Line:

The avalanche danger is HIGH today at mid and upper elevations on slopes steeper than about 35 degrees. Both natural and human triggered avalanches are likely. People without well-developed avalanche skills should avoid avalanche terrain and avalanche run-out zones.

At lower elevations and in wind-sheltered terrain less steep than 35 degrees the avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE. This means that human triggered avalanches are probable and natural avalanches are possible.

Mountain Weather:

A cold northwest flow will influence our weather today giving us mostly cloudy skies, scattered snow showers, and cold temperatures. Highs today at 10,000’ will be in the upper single digits and at 8,000’ near 15 degrees. Overnight lows will be near zero. Winds will be out of the northwest at speeds of 10-20 mph with occasional stronger gusts along the highest ridgelines. Tonight the airmass stabilizes a bit as weak high pressure begins to build. On Sunday temperatures warm up slightly and another storm is slated to move into the area late Monday.

General Information:

We can always use snow and avalanche information and your snowpack and avalanche observations could help to save someone’s life! 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, Dec. 28, 2003.

Thanks for calling.