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

sunday february 27, 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 Sunday, February 27, 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:

Dry, high pressure is building over the region giving us clear skies, light northerly winds, and current temperatures in the mid teens. While no new snow has fallen since last weekend, surprisingly good riding and sliding conditions can be found on a supportable, go anywhere kind of base. You’ll still be able to find some good recycled powder on shady, sheltered slopes and corn-like conditions are developing on low and mid elevation sunny aspects.

 

Avalanche Conditions: 

I didn’t see or hear of any new avalanche activity yesterday and people were punching out some bold lines without incident. In general the snowpack is becoming better behaved than just a few days ago and things don’t seems quite as sensitive. Certainly, there are miles and miles of terrain you could ride in today and not trigger a slide, but there are still some isolated pockets of unstable snow that could catch you off guard and take you for an unexpected ride. If you’re getting into steep terrain today, try to get as much information about the snowpack as you can, by tweaking small, steep test slopes, with little or no consequence, before diving into your favorite bowl or chute. Remember, triggering even a small avalanche could ruin your day, especially if it slams you into a group of trees or takes you for a ride over a cliff.

Finally, the sun is getting high in the sky and it’s penetrating into north facing slopes at mid and lower elevations and the danger of wet avalanches will increase on steep slopes with daytime heating.

 

Bottom Line:

The avalanche danger is MODERATE today on slopes steeper than about 35 degrees, especially those with both recent and old deposits of wind drifted snow. Human triggered avalanches are possible.

The danger of wet avalanches will increase to MODERATE on slopes steeper than about 35 degrees, especially at low and mid elevations as the day heats up.

On slopes less steep than about 35 degrees the avalanche danger is generally LOW.

 

Mountain Weather:

It’s gonna be another quiet weather day with clear skies, relatively mild temperatures, and light winds. Highs today at 10,000’ will be in the low 30’s and at 8,000’ near 40 degrees. Overnight lows will be in the mid teens. Winds will remain light and northwesterly blowing less than 15 mph along the ridges. A weak storm will move through the area on Monday afternoon and ahead of this feature we should see increasing high clouds late tonight, though Monday. There’s not a whole lot of moisture associated with this storm and by late Tuesday things should start to clear out as a ridge of high pressure camps out over the region. It looks high and dry until at least next weekend.

 

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 Wednesday Mar. 2, 2005.

 

Thanks for calling!