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 Wednesday, December 31, 2003 and it’s 7:30 a.m.

Current conditions:

Skies are mostly cloudy, light flurries are starting to develop, and 10,000’ temperatures are in the low teens. Winds are starting to pickup out of the southwest at speeds of 15-25 mph with gusts in the mid 30’s along the ridges. Snow totals from Monday night’s storm were very elevation dependant with 6” accumulating at lower elevations and about 12”-16” above 9,000’. Trial Lake got pounded with a pig-wallowing 22” total in 24 hours. The new snow is very light in density and a snorkel probably would’ve been the accessory of choice for yesterday’s travels.

Avalanche Conditions:

It doesn’t take much wind to transport light density snow and yesterday’s winds were easily blowing the new snow around and forming very sensitive soft slabs in the upper elevation terrain surrounding the region. My partner and I were able to trigger soft slab avalanches up to 21/2’ in depth from a distance and these avalanches were running fast and far. While all this new snow was very light it was enough added weight to produce a large natural avalanche on a steep east-facing slope on Bald Mountain. This slide propagated in steep rocky terrain where the snowpack was thin and weak and ran on facets near the ground. In addition a number of natural avalanches were occurring on steep road banks and in benign looking terrain where you wouldn’t expect to see avalanches. On steep, non-wind effected slopes the new snow is sluffing easily and depositing deep piles of debris. Avoid terrain traps such as gullies where even a small slide could bury you deeply.

Since Christmas day we have doubled the depth of our snowpack. Remember that all this added weight fell on top of a relatively weak pack to begin with. Slopes that have not naturally avalanched just need a good thump from the added weight of a backcountry traveler to tip the scales. Avalanches triggered where the snowpack is shallow and weak could easily break into deeper layers near the ground producing a large and dangerous slide.

With strong winds and more snow on the way be aware of an increasing avalanche danger in the next 24-48 hours.

Bottom Line:

The avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE today at upper elevations near and above timberline on slopes steeper than 35 degrees with recent deposits of wind drifted snow. Human triggered avalanches are probable and natural avalanches are possible.

At mid elevations the avalanche danger is MODERATE today on slopes steeper than 35 degrees with recent deposits of wind drifted snow. Human triggered avalanches are possible.

At low elevations and on slopes less steep than 30 degrees the avalanche danger is generally LOW.

Mountain Weather:

We should see a lull in the action for a while today, though a series of storms is waiting in the wings poised to affect the region for the New Year. Today skies will be mostly cloudy and light snow will be developing in the morning hours with 2”-4” of snow expected today and another 3”-6” tonight. High temperatures at 10,000’ will be in the upper teens and at 8,000’ in the mid to upper 20’s. Overnight lows will be near 15 degrees. Winds will be out of the southwest at speeds of 15-25 mph with gusts in the 40’s along the more exposed ridgelines. Tonight winds really get cranking and Thursday should be very windy with a slight warming trend and continued snow. On Friday morning a colder portion of the storm arrives bringing with it a good shot of snow and this storm looks like another significant snow producer.

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 Thursday, Jan. 1, 2004.

Thanks for calling.