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 8, 2005

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 8, 2005 and it’s 7:00 a.m.

Announcements:

We’re experiencing some technical difficulties with the Moffit Peak weather station. Hopefully I’ll have those worked out once the storm cycle ends. Thanks for your patience.

For recent avalanche photos click here.

Current Conditions:

Once again the big news are the raging, hurricane force winds. Since about noon yesterday, winds have been out of the south and southeast averaging 40 mph with gusts in the upper 70’s at the highest elevations. Temperatures are about 10 degrees warmer than yesterday at this time and are currently in the upper teens at 10,000’ and in the mid 20’s at 8,000’. It’s hard to say how much new snow has fallen overnight, because most of it has wound up somewhere in Wyoming but I’d hazard to guess we’ve received 4”-6” in the past 24 hours. Usually any day in the mountains is better than a day of chores at home, but this might be the exception to stay out of the hills and get your taxes done today.

Avalanche Conditions:

An AVALANCHE WARNING is in effect today for the western Uinta Mountains, due to the recent strong winds. We’ve received close to 2’ of new snow this week even down low near the trailheads and coupled with the strong winds for the past two days; dense slabs will have formed in unusual locations and at lower elevations. Basically, the powder party is over. After several days of what could be the best riding and sliding conditions all year, the winds have nuked just about everything in sight. Yesterday new sensitive wind drifts were rapidly forming along the ridges and were mostly confined to the upper elevations. Overnight though, the winds moved snow all over the place and I’d suspect sensitive slabs exist on just about every aspect and elevation out there. As a matter of fact, an observer of ours triggered an avalanche while pulling into his driveway last night in Samak, which is at about 6,800’ in elevation.

Avalanches triggered today may be large and dangerous. If you’re getting out on the snow you’ll need to stay off of and out from under any steep slope with recent deposits of wind drifted snow. Sustained winds this strong are atypical for us, and unusual weather produces unusual avalanches. People without well developed backcountry route finding and rescue skills should avoid backcountry travel.

Bottom Line:

The avalanche danger is HIGH today on all steep slopes with recent deposits of wind-drifted snow. Both human triggered and natural avalanches are likely.

Remember; even if you’re playing on low angle terrain be aware of steep slopes above and adjacent to you.

Mountain Weather:

A strong west to southwest flow will bring a series of fast moving weather disturbances across Utah through the weekend. Unfortunately, none of these look like they’ll dump a whole lot of snow as they pass by, but if you like wind…you’re in luck. Today we should see cloudy skies, warming temperatures, on and off snow showers, and strong winds. Speaking of wind, hourly averages should remain in the 40’s with gusts in the 60’s and 70’s at the most exposed locations. Temperatures will be on the rise with highs at 10,000’ near 20 degrees and at 8,000’ near 28 degrees. Overnight lows will be in the low 20’s. Snow accumulations will be light with only 2”-4” expected today and tonight. Sunday through Monday look about the same and we should begin to see the winds relax sometime Tuesday or Wednesday.

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 Jan. 9, 2005.

Thanks for calling!