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 April 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 Saturday, April 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:

High pressure will slowly give way to a series of weak weather disturbances this weekend. The first of these moved through during the evening giving us some high clouds and warmer overnight low temperatures. Currently at the trailheads it’s near 30 degrees and along the upper elevation ridges tops it’s in the mid 20’s. Winds picked up a little bit overnight as well and are blowing out of the west at speeds of 10-20 mph along the ridges. Riding and turning conditions are still quite good especially on upper elevation north facing slopes. Get after it early today before it turns to wet glop and you’ll be rewarded with soft, creamy powder. Any slope seeing the effects of the strong April sun has a crust on it and could be pretty tricky particularly if you’re looking for turns.

Avalanche Conditions:

Yesterday, Toby Weed from the Logan Avalanche Center and I took a look at the avalanche that occurred on Thursday near Monte Cristo on “Whiskey Hill”. Unfortunately the slide resulted in a fatality of a local snowmobiler. The avalanche occurred on a 38 degree slope, was about 500’-600’ wide, averaged 4’ in depth, and ran about 400’ vertically. This hard slab avalanche ran on weak facets formed during the late February dry spell and took out all of the snow we received in March. For photos of the accident click here. My condolences go out to friends and family of the victim.

Closer to home we have a similar snowpack and today there are areas where you could still trigger a sizable avalanche. Once again though, the stability pattern is a tricky one, especially on the shady slopes, and you’ll have to take the time to evaluate each steep slope before diving into it. We’ve received a lot of new snow in the past two weeks and in some places the snowpack is still getting use to all this additional weight. To simplify things though, we’ll be dealing with two different types of avalanches today. On the steep sunny slopes wet sluffs and slabs will be the big concern and as usual this time of year, you’ll want to get off of and out from under steep sun exposed slopes as the day heats up. On the other side of the compass there is still a possibility of triggering a dry slab avalanche especially on steep, leeward slopes at mid and upper elevations.

Bottom Line:

The avalanche danger will rise to CONSIDERABLE today on all steep sun exposed slopes with daytime heating. Human triggered avalanches will be probable and natural avalanches possible.

On northerly facing slopes at mid and upper elevations on slopes steeper than about 35 degrees, the avalanche danger is MODERATE and human triggered avalanches are possible today.

Mountain Weather:

The strong ridge of high pressure that has been giving us beautiful spring like weather the past few days has shifted to the east and this will allow some cloudiness to sneak into the region the next couple of days. In addition we should see warmer temperatures with today’s highs at 8,000’ reaching into the low to mid 50’s and at 10,000’ near 43 degrees. Overnight lows will be near freezing. Winds will be picking up throughout the day out of the southwest and will be blowing 15-25 mph with some higher gusts along the most exposed ridgelines. Sunday should be a few degrees warmer and there may be more high clouds drifting by. A strong cold front is expected to move into the region late Sunday night giving us another good shot of snow on 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 Sunday Apr.3, 2005.

Thanks for calling!