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

saturday DECEMber 18, 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 Saturday, December 18, 2004 and it’s 7:30 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 and BRORA for their generous contributions.

For recent avalanche photos click here.

Current Conditions:

High pressure will be over the region through this weekend. Currently, skies are clear and temperatures are pretty inverted. For example, it’s 16 degrees at Smith-Moorehouse, which is at 7,500’ in elevation, 19 degrees at Chalk Creek- 9,100’, and 21 degrees at the top of Moffit Peak- 11,000’. Winds are out of the east and northeast blowing in the 15-25 mph range along the highest ridges. No new snow has fallen all week and turning and riding conditions range from humbling, Gore-Tex ripping crusts on the sun exposed slopes to wind whipped snow in the high open bowls. In between, there is still some soft settled snow, though it’s getting harder to find these days.

Avalanche Conditions:

What a difference a week makes. Seven days ago it was pretty wild out there and now it seems that in most places the snowpack is becoming better behaved. Other than some shallow new wind slabs, I haven’t heard about any new big avalanche activity for several days. However, I’m still getting reports of large, booming collapses and whumphing sounds. These heart-stopping noises mean that our additional weight is too much for the snowpack, and it’s still going to take some time for the pack to adjust to the last weekends huge load of snow and wind. There are plenty of places to go and not trigger an avalanche today so I’ll narrow it down and tell you where I think the places to avoid are. Anywhere the snowpack remains shallow and weak will be suspect. I’d be particularly leery of shady slopes that are steep and rocky and have a thin snowpack. While it continues to get harder to trigger an avalanche, if you do, it’ll be large and dangerous. Patience may be the most important component to being safe this weekend, because the avalanche doesn’t know it’s a sunny day and we’re powder starved.

This would be a good weekend to continue practicing your safe travel techniques. Only put one person at a time on the slope, keep an eye on your partner, have an escape route planned, and get out of the way and into a safe location at the bottom of the slope.

Carry an avalanche beacon, shovel, and probe and know how to use them. Remember- you are the rescue party.

Bottom Line:

The avalanche danger is MODERATE today on slopes steeper than about 35 degrees. Human triggered avalanches are possible.

On slopes less steep than about 35 degrees the avalanche danger is generally LOW. Remember; even if you’re playing on low angle terrain be aware of steep slopes above and adjacent to you.

Mountain Weather:

Today we will see partly cloudy skies and mild temperatures. Highs at 8,000’ will be in the upper 30’s and at 10,000’ near freezing. Overnight lows will be in the lower 20’s. Winds will generally be out of the north at speeds of 10-20 mph along the highest ridges. Sunday will be similar. Our next chance of snow looks like it will be here late Monday night or early Tuesday. There’s not a whole lot of faith in this system, but at least it will turn cold and windy. The long-range computer models hint at a change to a wetter pattern after the first of the year.

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 Sunday Dec. 19, 2004.

Thanks for calling!