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 Sunday, January 18, 2004 and it’s 7:30 a.m.

Backcountry Awareness Week begins on January 19^th and runs through the 25^th. There are some great events scheduled for the upcoming week and you can read all about it at http://www.backcountryawareness.com/

Current conditions:

Under clear skies, current 10,000’ temperatures are in the low 20’s and winds are generally out of the west at speeds of 10-15 mph along the ridges. It’s a mixed bag out there today as far as the snow surface conditions go. Up high the snow is stiff and foam-like. At mid and low elevations on the southerly facing slopes, supportable crusts turn into creamy corn-like snow as the day warms up. And sandwiched in between all the teeth chattering old tracks, good recrystalized snow can still be found on shady, wind sheltered slopes.

Avalanche Conditions:

The yin-yang effect of warm days followed by cold nights has pretty much locked the snowpack in place. With a plethora of slope stability testers out in full force yesterday, there were no reports of any human triggered avalanches and people are starting to nose into every nook and cranny, punching out some bold lines without incident. For now, many of the deeper instabilities within the snowpack that I’ve been concerned about have relaxed and are starting to gain strength especially in areas where the snowpack is deep. While the clear weather makes many of us look like we’ve spent the week on a Caribbean cruise, it’s having a negative impact on the snow surface, as it grows weak over time, particularly on the shady slopes. This could ultimately set the tone for an avalanche cycle once winter returns from its hiatus.

Bottom Line:

At all elevations the avalanche danger is generally LOW today. Human triggered avalanches are unlikely. Remember low danger doesn’t mean no danger, so if you’re getting into steep, radical terrain today practice you’re safe travel skills. Only put one person on the slope at a time and carry all the necessary rescue gear such as beacons, shovels, and probes.

Mountain Weather:

High pressure will remain in place for one more day giving us clear skies, warm temperatures, and light winds. Highs today at 10,000’ will be in the low 30’s and at 8,000’ near 40 degrees. Overnight lows will dip into the low 20’s. Winds will remain light and westerly at speeds of 5-15 mph along the ridges. By late tonight, the high should start to buckle and this will allow a weak system to slide across the region on Monday and Tuesday bringing with it a chance of snow and colder temperatures. The ridge rebounds for mid-week and looking into the crystal ball another system is slated to move in late in the week.

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.

I will issue a special holiday advisory by 7:30 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 19, 2004.

Thanks for calling.