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 january 7, 2006

This advisory expires 24 hours from the date and time posted, but will be updated by 7:30 am sunday january 8, 2006.

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, January 7, 2006 and it’s 7:00 a.m. Avalanche advisories for the western Uintas are available on Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday and all holidays.

This advisory covers the terrain from Daniels Summit, to Mirror Lake, to the North Slope of the western Uinta Mountains. That’s a lot of turf and I can’t be in all of these places at once. Your snow and avalanche observations are critical to this program and help to save other riders lives by getting accurate information out to the public. I’m interested in what you’re seeing especially if you see or trigger an avalanche. Please call 1-800-662-4140, or 801-231-2170, or email to [email protected] and fill us in with all the details.

Announcements:

I’ll be installing “Beacon Basin” today at the Noblett’s Trailhead around 9:00 and I’m still looking for a few more strong backs
to help out. If you’re in the area, please swing by and lend a hand!
 
A special thanks to Tri-City Performance, Polaris and The Utah Snowmobile Association for stepping up to the plate 
and partnering to provide a new sled for this program. 
 
The Moffit Peak weather station is up and running. This site was made possible through generous donations
by BRORA, The Utah Snowmobile Association, and the National Weather Service. You can view data by clicking here.

For avalanche photos click here.

Current Conditions:

High clouds associated with a weak storm system, began to move over the region late yesterday afternoon keeping temperatures quite mild, even at the highest elevations. Currently at 11,000’ it’s 31 degrees and at the trailheads close to 37 degrees. Winds are out of the southwest blowing 15-25 mph with gusts in the 40’s along the highest peaks. No new snow has fallen since Wednesday, but I’m still finding excellent riding and turning conditions on mid elevation, wind protected shady slopes.

Avalanche Conditions:

Today we’ll have two avalanche problems to deal with. The deep slabs left over from the big storm cycle last week and new wind drifts formed by today’s strong winds. Yesterday, my partner Dave and I went out towards Current Creek to assess the recent storm and avalanche cycle and look for some deep slab avalanches. Like other areas of the range, you really need a keen eye to decipher which slopes avalanched during the big storm and which ones haven’t. The winds were so strong during the storm; slopes that did avalanche were rapidly filled back in. It wasn’t all a wash and we were able to spot one very significant slide off the east face of Currant Creek Peak and this one was probably 5’ or 6’ deep, 200’ wide, running for about 800’ vertical feet. Nearby, our neighbors in the Wasatch Range saw significant avalanches mostly through explosive control work with the last of the large avalanches triggered on Thursday. All of these slides were unsurvivable had a person triggered them. So what does this all tell us about the state of the avalanche danger out there? Well… funny you ask because I’ve been contemplating this one for several days, so here you go. There’s miles and miles of terrain out there where you can ride and not trigger a slide. However, there are still places where if you hit a weak spot in the snowpack on a steep slope, I think you could still trigger a large and dangerous avalanche. If you did, you’d be toast. The most likely kind of terrain you’d find these monsters in would be steep rocky slopes with a shallow, weak snowpack. There have been several close calls and one fatality as a result of this dangerous avalanche cycle and the best way to increase your odds of not being caught in a big slide is to keep an eye on your slope angles and make informed decisions with your terrain choices. Give the snowpack a few more days before getting in the big stuff.

Secondly, strong winds today will be forming wind drifts along the leeward side of ridges and these may become more widespread and sensitive as the day wears on. While they should be fairly manageable in size, take care that one doesn’t knock you off your feet or machine and take you for a body beating ride.

Bottom Line:

At upper elevations, at and above tree-line, the avalanche danger is MODERATE today on slopes steeper than about 35 degrees, especially those with both old and recent deposits of wind drifted snow facing the north half of the compass. A MODERATE avalanche danger means human triggered avalanches are possible.

On wind sheltered slopes less than 35 degrees and on slopes facing the south half of the compass the avalanche danger is generally LOW.

Mountain Weather:

Today we will see increasing clouds, mild daytime temperatures and strong ridgetop winds. Highs today at 8,000’ will be in the mid to upper 40’s and at 10,000’ near 40 degrees. Cold air associated with the first shot of unsettled weather will drop temperatures into the low 20’s overnight. Winds will be out of the southwest blowing 20-30 mph along the ridges, shifting to the west later in the day and relaxing a bit. Late tonight we should see increasing chances of snow and it looks like 1”-3” of new snow by morning. Another system slides through the area on Sunday bringing with it a better shot of snow and colder temperatures. Accumulations should be in the 2”-5” range and high temperatures will be in the mid 20’s. High pressure builds for most of next week and we should see warming temperatures and partly cloudy skies. Looking into the crystal ball… a developing storm could materialize late in the week.

General Information:

If you haven’t taken one of our free snowmobile specific avalanche awareness classes, schedule one now before things get too crazy. Give me a call at 801-231-2170 and I’d be happy to tailor a talk for your group.

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.

This advisory expires 24 hours from the date and time posted, but will be updated by 7:30 am on Sunday January 8, 2006.

Thanks for calling!