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

wednesday DECEMber 22, 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 Wednesday, December 22, 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:

Temperatures have been falling steadily since 2:00 yesterday afternoon when a cold moved into the region. Currently at the trailheads it’s near zero and along the ridges at 11,000’ it’s –4 degrees. Winds are out of the east and southeast at speeds of 5-15 mph. It looks like an inch of new snow has fallen in the past 24 hours. The riding and turning conditions are grim, even by east coast standards.

Avalanche Conditions:

There’s just not a whole lot going on in the backcountry these days and plenty of people have been testing steep slopes without incident. Though, I did get a report of a human triggered avalanche in the Super Bowl area, which must have occurred sometime over the weekend. The avalanche was about 2’ deep and 80’ wide, running a couple hundred vertical feet.

Today’s sub zero temperatures will lock the snowpack in place and I think you’d be hard pressed to trigger an avalanche on most steep slopes. With all of the hard, slick surfaces out there you probably stand a better chance of going for an uncontrollable slide for life on a steep slope. However, the type of terrain where I think you could get surprised and still trigger an avalanche is at the upper elevations on a steep, rocky slope, especially those with a shallow, weak snowpack.

Bottom Line:

The avalanche danger is generally LOW today on most slopes at mid and lower elevations.

Above timberline the avalanche danger is MODERATE today on slopes steeper than 35 degrees, particularly those with a shallow, weak snowpack. Human triggered avalanches are possible.

Mountain Weather:

Last nights storm system is exiting the state, but a cold and unstable airmass remains in place. Today we can expect mostly cloudy skies, cold temperatures, with a chance of a flurry or two. Highs today at 8,000’ will be in the low teens and at 10,000’ near 5 degrees. Overnight lows will be near zero. Winds will be light and variable this morning, switching to the northwest later in the day and increasing to 15-25 mph along the highest ridges. Tonight another system moves over the area giving us a shot of snow in the 1”-3” range. Thursday will be breezy, cloudy and cold with highs at 8,000’ near 5 degrees. A slow warming trend sets up for the weekend.

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 Friday Dec. 24, 2004.

Thanks for calling!