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 march 2, 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, March 2, 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:

In the wake of yesterdays storm, a short-lived ridge of high pressure is over us this morning, providing clear skies and winter like temperatures in the mid teens. Winds are generally out of the north, blowing 10-15 mph along the ridges. Monday nights little storm system brought 2”-3” of new snow to the region and helped to freshen up the riding conditions. While many of the more popular areas are pretty hammered with old tracks, if you’re a little creative you’ll be rewarded with some fine powder riding, particularly on sheltered northwest through east aspects. On the other side of the compass, you’ll find a variety of mostly supportable crusts.

 

Avalanche Conditions: 

It’s been pretty quiet in the avalanche department the past few days and Mondays little shot of snow didn’t do much to drastically change anything. However, the new snow did cover up the old, weak surface facets and on continuously steep slopes it’s easy to get some pretty sizeable sluffs running with you and entraining quite a bit of snow. While these are mostly manageable in size, they are running long distances and if you got knocked off your feet or machine, they could easily slam you into a group of trees, preempting an otherwise fun day of riding. In addition, there may be an old wind slab or two you could trigger along the leeward side of upper elevation ridgelines. With more snow and wind on the way over the next 24 hours I’d expect shallow, soft slab avalanches will become more widespread and sensitive to the weight of a person.   

 

Bottom Line:

At mid and upper elevations the avalanche danger is MODERATE today for both shallow slabs and sluffs on slopes approaching 40 degrees in steepness, especially on northwest through east facing slopes. Human triggered avalanches are possible.

On most other slopes the avalanche danger is generally LOW.

 

Mountain Weather:

A weak storm is slated to affect the region over the next few days. After a mostly sunny morning we should start to see increasing clouds late this afternoon and snow should start to develop after about midnight. It’s not a big storm, but by morning snow totals could be in the 2”-4” range. Winds will start switching to the southwest during the day and will be blowing 10-20 mph along the ridges by sunset. After a brisk start, temperatures will climb into the low 40’s at 8,000’ and will be near freezing at 10,000’. Overnight lows will be in the mid 20’s. There is a slight chance of lightning late this afternoon and tonight. Thursday should bring a few lingering snow showers and high pressure begins to build for the weekend. Other than an occasional cloud or two the weather pattern looks pretty bleak for storms and by the middle of next week we could see the warmest temperatures all season.

 

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 Mar. 5, 2005.

 

Thanks for calling!