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, March 24, 2004 and it’s 7:30 a.m.

 

Current conditions:

It was yet another warm night with low temperatures dipping below freezing only on the highest peaks. Currently under partly cloudy skies temperatures are in the mid 30’s at 10,000’ and in the low 40’s at most lower elevation trailheads. It’s pretty grim out there and the riding and turning conditions have gone from hero to zero. There may be an old, tired patch or two of soft settled snow on the most protected upper elevation shady slopes. Unfortunately to get to it you’ll have to endure either frozen teeth chattering old tracks or bottomless slush. Supportable crusts on the south facing slopes will be limited to the highest elevations.

 

Avalanche Conditions: 

Honey, I shrunk the snowpack! No it’s not the title to a sequel of a popular family feel-good movie coming to a theater near you soon. It’s more a reflection of the sad state of affairs our snowpack is in. With five nights of marginal refreezes the snow is going fast. The south facing slopes have taken the hardest hit with many slopes completely melted out. On the other side of the compass, north-facing aspects are hanging in there, but the snow has the consistency and strength of a frozen margarita, particularly at lower and mid elevations. The pack appears to be adjusting to the recent heat wave and has been pretty well behaved as it makes the transition to a spring-like snowpack. Today’s slightly cooler temperatures and wind may help to keep wet slide activity to a minimum. However the usual precautions of getting off of steep slopes during the heat of the day should still be practiced. Natural avalanches are becoming less frequent, though it wouldn’t be out of the question for one to pop out with daytime heating, particularly in steep, rocky terrain where the snowpack is shallow and weak.

Looking into the future, temperatures are expected to drop in the next few days and this should help to squelch the wet slide activity. However, on an esoteric note, as the snow surface becomes more supportable remember it will be still be sitting on top of wet, loose, uncohesive snow. Strong snow above a weakness is never a good combination in the snowpack. During the expected cooling trend, the added weight of a backcountry traveler may be enough to collapse the snowpack leading to an increased possibility of human triggered corn slab avalanches.

 

Bottom Line:

The danger of wet sluffs and slabs is MODERATE today on all steep slopes and human triggered avalanches are possible. While more the exception than the rule, be aware natural avalanches may still occur during the heat of the day. You’ll want to get off of and out from underneath steep slopes as the snow heats up.

 

Mountain Weather:

The air mass remains mild and rather unstable and a passing shower or thunderstorm could occur later today into this evening. For most of the day we should see partly cloudy skies, continued mild temperatures, and moderate southwest winds. Highs today at 10,000 will be near 40 degrees and at 8,000’ in the low to mid 50’s. Overnight lows will be near 30 degrees. Winds will be out of the southwest at speeds of 10-20 mph with gusts in the low 30’s along the highest ridges. Drier, high pressure will rebound on Thursday and temperatures should be about 5 degrees cooler. Friday will start off quite mild though a vigorous cold front should slide into the region around midday dropping temperatures significantly. There is moisture associated with this front and we may even see a decent shot of snow developing late in the day that should linger into Saturday, but the jury is still out as far as snow totals are concerned.

 

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 update this advisory by 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, Mar.27, 2004.

Thanks for calling.