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 march 26, 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, March 26, 2005 and it’s 7:00 a.m.

Announcements:

If you want to test your avalanche beacon skills, come join us for “Beacon and Eggs” at 
Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort on Saturday March 26th. A revised Easter egg hunt 
with buried avalanche beacons will take place, and searchers finding the buried beacons
 in the fastest time will win some great prizes! For more information you can go the 
website or call 1-800-232-9542. 
 
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:

Skies are clearing in the wake of the seven-day storm and what a storm it was with just over 4’ of dense new snow falling in the past week. It feels like winter out there this morning with temperatures in the single digits at the ridge tops and in the low teens at the trailheads. Winds are light and variable, blowing less than 15 mph along the ridges. No doubt it’ll be an epic out there today and what a way to usher in spring! You’d better get after it today because strong warming is forecast for Sunday, turning all this beautiful snow into wet, heavy, glop.

Avalanche Conditions:

Lots of new snow, plenty of sunshine, and warming temperatures… wow, what a combination! It’s the type of weather marketing people dream of. It’s also probably the worst recipe for avalanches. While most avalanches occur during and right after a storm, most avalanche accidents happen on the first few sunny days right after a storm. You’ll need to be on your toes today because the avalanche danger will be rising throughout the day due to the strong sunshine and rising temperatures. Avalanches triggered today have the possibility of breaking into old snow, creating a much larger avalanche than you might expect. Get lots of information from small test slopes like road cuts, which have little consequence, before diving into your favorite steep bowl or chute. Also, as the day heats up you’ll want to stay off of and out from under any steep slopes, especially as the snow gets damp and soggy. This weekend you’ll need to continue following safe travel practices by putting only one person on the slope at a time, getting out of the way and into a safe location at the bottom of the slope, and always keep an eye on your partner. We’re not through with winter yet so don’t forget to wear your avalanche beacon, shovel, and probe.

Bottom Line:

The avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE this morning on upper elevation slopes, especially those that are steeper than about 35 degrees with recent deposits of wind drifted snow. Human triggered avalanches are probable and natural avalanches possible.

The avalanche danger may rise to HIGH later in the day in this type of terrain with daytime heating. Remember a HIGH avalanche danger means both human triggered and natural avalanches are likely.

At mid elevations the avalanche danger is MODERATE this morning on slopes steeper than about 35 degrees with recent wind drifts and may rise to CONSIDERABLE with daytime heating.

Mountain Weather:

This morning there’s still a slight possibility of a snow flurry or two, but in general you can expect mostly sunny skies and warming temperatures. Highs today at 8,000’ will be in the low to mid 30’s and at 10,000’ in the mid 20’s. Overnight lows will be in the mid teens. Winds should be generally out of the north blowing in the 10-20 mph range along the ridges. On Sunday we can expect a southwest flow to develop and that will usher in warm air and significantly increase the temperatures. The next system is due to arrive late Monday with a colder system on track for Tuesday night. Looks like we’re in the flow again!

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 Sunday Mar.27, 2005.

Thanks for calling!