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.

 

 

special Avalanche ADVISORY

tuesday January 11, 2005

 

Good morning, this is Craig Gordon with the Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center with a special avalanche and mountain weather advisory for the western Uinta Mountains. Today is Tuesday, January 11, 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:

Overnight the mountains picked up another 6” of snow and a winter storm warning is in effect for the western Uinta Mountains through Wednesday morning. Temperatures have remained mild for the past 24 hours and currently it’s in the mid 20’s at 10,000’ and 30 degrees at 8,000’. Winds are out of the west and southwest blowing 10-20 mph along the ridges.    

 

Avalanche Conditions: 

The avalanche danger keeps creeping up on us as we’ve received an amazing amount of snow and wind in the past 5 days. Visibility has been tough to come by, so I haven’t seen any natural avalanche activity but my gut feeling tells me that the snowpack is screaming…enough already! With one more big shot of moisture headed our way the avalanche danger will be on the rise especially later in the day.

Avalanches triggered on steep wind-loaded slopes today have the potential to be large, dangerous, and possibly unsurvivable. 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.  People without well-developed backcountry route finding, rescue, and avalanche 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 Pacific storm will move across Utah late this afternoon and tonight. Today we should see snow intensities pick up later in the day and by sunset, another 6”-10” is expected. Winds will be out of the southwest at speeds of 15-25 mph along the ridges today. This evening they’ll switch to the northwest and will be gusting into the upper 30’s along the ridges. One more day of mild temperatures are on tap with highs at 8,000’ in the mid 30’s and at 10,000’ in the upper 20’s. The cold air arrives tonight and temperatures should fall rapidly with lows dipping into the single digits. Wednesday brings more snow in a cold northwest flow and we start to dry out later in the week.

 

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 Jan. 12, 2005.

 

Thanks for calling!