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

SUNday November 28,2004

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, November 28, 2004 and it’s 7:00 a.m.

Announcements:

We have installed a weather station in the Moffit Peak area. Click here to see temperatures and wind data.

Many thanks go out to the Utah Snowmobile Association for their generous contributions.

Current conditions:

Wow, what a storm! New snow totals throughout the range are variable and increase with elevation. The lower elevation trailheads have picked up about 8” of new snow, and up high storm totals are nearing 18”. Snow densities are averaging around 7%. Current temperatures at 8,000’ are in the mid teens and at 10,000’ they’re just starting to climb out of the single digits. Winds have been pretty well behaved in the past 24 hours with gusts only reaching into the low 20’s. It’ll be an epic day for sure, but be aware there are still plenty of natural obstacles barely hidden and the snowpack is relatively thin.

Avalanche Conditions:

With the first major storm hitting the region in some time and plenty of weak, old surface facets out there, things should start to get pretty interesting today. It’s going to be tricky and you’ll need to be on your toes, so here’s what we’re faced with. First off the snow we received on Thursday night came in with gusty winds and formed stiff slabs on the leeward side of ridges at the upper elevations. Now those slabs will be covered over with new snow and they’ll be hard to detect. The danger here is the old stiffer slab will lure you well out onto the slope before it fails. When it does fail today’s avalanches could break deeper into old layers within the snowpack. The result is going to be a large avalanche.

Secondly, with all the new snow out there, even if you’re in wind-sheltered terrain, a large sluff could entrain more snow than you might think and it’s additional weight could trigger other avalanches remotely. Today avalanches will be running fast and far so you’ll need to be diligent with your safe travel techniques. Only put one person on the slope at a time, keep an eye on your partner, and get out of the way and into a safe location at the bottom of the slope. Today you’ll need to tone your slope angles down and watch what’s above you, and who’s above you. Clues such as shooting cracks around your machine or skis as well as loud, booming collapses or ”whumphing” sounds are great indicators to unstable snow.

Finally, many avalanche accidents and close calls occur early in the season when our avalanche radar isn’t quite tuned in yet. So if your planning to get out on the snow in the next few days make sure you have all the necessary avalanche safety equipment. You need to have avalanche beacons, shovels, and probes and you need to know how to use them. Remember, you are the rescue party.

Bottom Line:

The avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE today on all slopes steeper than about 35 degrees particularly those with recent deposits of wind drifted snow. Human triggered avalanches are probable and natural avalanches are possible.

Should winds be stronger than forecast the avalanche danger may rise to HIGH at the upper elevations.

Mountain Weather:

The storm is starting to wind down, though I think we’ll be able to squeeze another 3”-6” of snow out of it before it’s all said and done. It’s going to be a cold one out there with high temperatures at 8,000’ in the upper teens and at 10,000 near 10 degrees. Overnight lows will be near zero. Northerly winds are expected to increase throughout the day and could be gusting into the low 30’s by days end. Monday should be mostly cloudy and continued breezy with a slight chance of scattered snow showers. High pressure returns for the rest of the week producing partly cloudy skies and a slow warming trend.

General Information:

We’re interested in what you’re seeing especially if you observe or trigger an avalanche. Call 1-800-662-4140, or 801-231-2170, or email to [email protected] or fax to 801-524-6301 and fill us in with all the details.

If you’d like to schedule a free snowmobile specific avalanche talk and or a field day, please call 801-231-2170.

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 Wednesday Dec.1, 2004.

Thanks for calling!