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 february 16, 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 Wednesday, February 16, 2005 and it’s 7:00 a.m.

Announcements:

A beacon-training center has been installed at the Nobletts trailhead and “Beacon Basin” up and running!
Many thanks go out to Backcountry Access for supplying all the equipment, Doug Page and all the 
volunteers who provided manpower, Jim Conway who was the brains behind the operation, and the
Kamas and Heber Ranger Districts, along with State Parks and The Utah Snowmobile Association
for their in-kind support. Swing by and check it out before going on the snow. It’s free and within walking 
distance from the parking lot.
 
The Moffit Peak weather station is back in operation. This site was made possible through generous donations
from BRORA, The Utah Snowmobile Association, and the National Weather Service. You can view data by clicking here.

For recent avalanche photos click here.

Current Conditions:

A warm front is pushing towards the area this morning and ahead of this weak system, clouds have been on the increase. Temperatures have been steadily rising the past few hours and currently at 11,000’ temperatures are in the low teens and at 8,000’ it’s near 20 degrees. Northwesterly winds have been active overnight, blowing 15-25 mph along the ridges. Storm totals across the region range from about a foot down at the trailheads to 18” up at the higher elevations. Yesterday might have been another “best day of the year” with plenty of reports of over the head and over the hood riding conditions. The ultra light snow made for easy travel and even low angle slopes are fast and fun.

Avalanche Conditions:

Monday night’s storm redlined the “fun meter” yesterday, but as you might expect, the avalanche danger has been on the rise as well. Most of yesterday’s avalanche activity was confined to the new, light density snow and fairly manageable. This is pretty straight forward, but I’m still worried about the weak layers deeper in the snowpack. Remember, during the late January dry spell, the surface snow grew weak and then over the weekend it got buried with a combination of dense snow and strong winds. Now, with a foot and a half of new snow on top, this notoriously tricky combination will be hard to detect. Today, you’ll need to take sometime and poke around in the snow in order to get as much information as you can. The stability trend is complicated, but here are the main themes. Up high we’ll be dealing with both new and old wind drifts and an avalanche triggered in the new snow could step down into deeper buried weak layers. At mid elevations, the slab may be softer but, some of the weakest old surface snow is in mid elevation terrain and there have been reports of people triggering avalanches from a distance. Finally, the skies will be clearing later today and temperatures will be about 5 degrees warmer than yesterday. I’d expect the danger of wet avalanches to be on the rise with daytime heating, particularly at mid and lower elevations.

Bottom Line:

In upper elevation terrain, above timberline, there is a CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger on slopes steeper than about 35 degrees, especially with recent and old deposits of wind-drifted snow. Human triggered avalanches are probable and natural avalanches possible.

At mid elevations the avalanche danger is MODERATE on slopes steeper than about 35 degrees with recent deposits of wind-drifted snow. Human triggered avalanches are possible.

In wind-sheltered terrain on slopes less steep than about 35 degrees the avalanche danger is generally LOW.

Mountain Weather:

Today we should see mostly cloudy skies, slightly warmer temperatures, and even a stray flurry or two as a weak system stays to the south of the region. Highs today at 10,000’ will be near 20 degrees and at 8,000’ in the mid to upper 20’s. By this afternoon, skies should begin to clear out allowing temperatures to drop into the low teens overnight. Winds will be out of the west and northwest this morning blowing 15-25 mph along the ridges and should begin to calm down later in the day. Thursday looks like an in between storms kind of day and we should see clear skies and high temperatures about 10 degrees warmer than today’s. Friday brings increasing clouds with snow developing in the evening and it looks like a stronger system is still on tap for late Sunday or Monday.

General Information:

We’re interested in what you’re seeing especially if you see 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 Saturday Feb. 19, 2005.

Thanks for calling!