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 december 14, 2005

This advisory expires 24 hours from the date and time posted, but will be updated by 7:30 am saturday December 17, 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, December 14, 2005 and it’s 7:00 a.m. Avalanche advisories for the western Uintas are available on Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday and all holidays.

This advisory covers the terrain from Daniels Summit, to Mirror Lake, to the North Slope of the western Uinta Mountains. That’s a lot of turf and I can’t be in all of these places at once. Your snow and avalanche observations are critical to this program and help to save other riders lives by getting accurate information out to the public. I’m interested in what you’re seeing especially if you see or trigger an avalanche. Please call 1-800-662-4140, or 801-231-2170, or email to [email protected] and fill us in with all the details.

Announcements:

I’ll be giving a free avalanche awareness talk designed specifically for snowmobilers tonight, Wednesday December 14th at 6:30 pm at Mountain High Motorsports on 8262 S Redwood Rd, West Jordan.
 
The Moffit Peak weather station is back in operation. This site was made possible through generous donations
by BRORA, The Utah Snowmobile Association, and the National Weather Service. You can view data by clicking here.

For avalanche photos click here.

We’re looking for feedback on our new advisory page. Click here to check out the new “MOCK UP”. I’d like to hear what you think and you can email me at [email protected] with comments and suggestions.

Current Conditions:

Yesterday’s wimpy little storm was more huff than fluff and most of the weather sites are reporting just an inch or two of new snow. This morning, skies are becoming partly cloudy as high pressure begins to build over the region. A cold northwest flow will be over us today and temperatures are about 10 degrees colder than yesterday at this time. Currently at the trailheads it’s near 10 degrees and along the ridges it’s minus 3 degrees. Northerly winds have calmed down in the past few hours and are now blowing 10-15 mph along the high peaks. Riding and turning conditions remain surprisingly good, but we sure could use a new coat of paint.

Avalanche Conditions:

Yesterday’s strong northwest and northerly winds formed shallow, but tricky, new wind drifts. They’re tricky because the slabs are hard and formed on either weak facets or slick crusts and have the potential of failing above you. You’ll find these hard slabs along the leeward side of upper elevation ridges, but I’d be suspect around terrain features like chutes, gullies and sub-ridges as well. Avalanches triggered today have the potential of being a little bit wider and deeper than you might expect, especially in steep rocky terrain with a weak shallow snowpack.

In the bigger picture, the cold dry weather is starting to takes its toll on our snowpack and the strength of the pack is rapidly deteriorating. I’m sorry to say, but we’re getting set up for a tricky avalanche cycle once winter returns from its hiatus. In many places where the snowpack is less than about 3’ in depth it’s become punchy and bottomless.

Bottom Line:

In upper elevation terrain at and above tree line the avalanche danger is MODERATE today on slopes steeper than about 35 degrees, especially those with both old and new deposits of wind drifted snow. A MODERATE danger means human triggered avalanche are possible.

The avalanche danger is generally LOW in wind sheltered terrain and on slopes less steep than 35 degrees.

Mountain Weather:

High pressure will dominate our weather pattern for the next few days, giving us partly cloudy skies and cold temperatures, but there’s still chance for a morning flurry or two. Highs today at 8,000’ will be near 20 degrees and at 10,000’ in the low teens. Overnight lows under clear skies will be close to zero. Winds will be northerly, blowing 10-20 mph at the most exposed locations. A couple of weak weather systems will bring a chance of snow to the region Friday through the end of the weekend. However, there are no big storms in sight.

General Information:

If you haven’t taken one of our free snowmobile specific avalanche awareness classes, schedule one now before things get too crazy. Give me a call at 801-231-2170 and I’d be happy to tailor a talk for your group.

Also, once there’s enough snow, I’ll have the “Beacon Basin” training site up and running again this year at the Nobletts trailhead.

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’ll update this advisory by 7:30 a.m. on Saturday December 17, 2005.

Thanks for calling!