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 April 13, 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, April 13, 2005 and it’s 7:00 a.m.

This Sunday, April 17th will be the last of my regularly scheduled advisories.

 

Announcements:

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 mostly clear this morning and temperatures have been quite warm overnight only getting into the low 30’s for the past few hours. The big news though, is the strong southwest winds that developed late yesterday afternoon and now they’re cranking along the ridges. Hourly averages are in the 20’s with gusts in the mid 40’s at the most exposed locations. Riding conditions still offer up some patches of dry snow on the high north facing slopes and I think you could squeak out a quick corn run or two early this morning before it becomes unsupportable.  

 

Avalanche Conditions: 

The relatively benign avalanche conditions of the past few days will be changing today as high temperatures reach into the uncharted territory. Sweltering daytime highs are expected and I think we will see quite a bit of wet avalanche activity today with some avalanches stepping down into deeper buried weak layers, especially where the snowpack is thin. Steep, rocky areas fit this bill. My colleague Ted Scroggin from the Evanston Ranger District was out on the snow yesterday and summed it up by saying, “go early, get up high, and then go home.” Also remember, as the day heats up you’ll want to get off of and out from under any steep sun-exposed slope. While wet avalanches are generally slow moving, you definitely don’t want to get caught up in one of these mountain margaritas, because they can stack up tremendous amounts of snow, especially in terrain traps such as gullies and steep road cuts.   

Finally, today’s strong winds will mostly likely find what little snow is available out there to blow around and form wind drifts along the leeward side of upper elevation ridges. You’ll want to avoid any steep slope with recent deposits of wind-drifted snow.

 

Bottom Line:

The avalanche danger is generally LOW this morning and will quickly rise to MODERATE on sun-exposed slopes steeper than about 35 degrees with daytime heating. Human triggered avalanches will be possible as the day warms up.

Be aware the avalanche danger may even rise to CONSIDERABLE on some slopes steeper than 35 degrees, especially during the heat of the day. This means human triggered avalanches are probable, natural avalanche possible.

 

Mountain Weather:

A strong and mostly dry cold front is headed our way and should reach the region around midnight. Ahead of its arrival we should see strong southerly winds, mostly sunny skies, and very warm temperatures. Highs today at 8,000’ will be in the upper 50’s and at 10,000’ in the low to mid 40’s. Overnight lows will dive into the upper teens. There is very little moisture associated with this front, but we may still see a flurry or two. Thursday should be partly cloudy and breezy with highs in the low 40’s. A good melt freeze cycle is setting up for the rest of the week with clear skies, daytime highs in the 40’s and overnight lows near or below freezing.

 

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 Apr.16, 2005.

 

Thanks for calling!