Wasatch Cache and Uinta National Forests

In partnership with: Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center, The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center, Utah State Parks,

Tri-City Performance, Polaris, the Utah Snowmobile Association, the National Weather Service, BRORA, and Backcountry Access.

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Avalanche advisory

sundAY january 15, 2006

This advisory expires 24 hours from the date and time posted, but will be updated with a holiday advisory by 7:30 am monday january 16, 2006.

 

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 Sunday, January 15, 2006 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:

Beacon Basin” is good to go and ready to use at the Noblett’s Trailhead.  While you’re waiting for your partners 
to gear up, swing by and test your avalanche beacon skills. It’s free and easily accessible from the parking lot. A big thanks goes 
out to members of the Utah Snowmobile Association and to Backcountry Access for providing all the gear. 
 
A special thanks to Tri-City Performance, Polaris and The Utah Snowmobile Association for stepping up to the plate 
and partnering to provide a new sled for this program. 
 
The Moffit Peak weather station is up and running. 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.

 

Current Conditions:

The big storm we expected overnight is still fermenting, like a fine wine aging, waiting to be uncorked at just the right moment so we can experience its full flavor. In other words, the first part of the storm system was basically a bust with only about 3” of new snow overnight. Don’t lose all hope though; it still looks like we should get a good shot of snow later today. A cold front did move through the area early this morning, shifting winds and dropping temperatures. Currently, winds are out of the northwest blowing 15-30 mph along the ridges. It’s in the mid 20’s at the trailheads and near 15 degrees at most mountain top locations. There’s good riding to be had, especially on sheltered, shady slopes. On the other side of the compass, expect dust on crust on south facing aspects.

 

Avalanche Conditions:

While the first chunk of our much anticipated storm kind of fizzled out overnight, we still have a few avalanche concerns on our plate to talk about this morning. First off, yesterday’s winds were strong enough to blow quite a bit of snow around at the upper elevations. I saw wind drifts forming on the leeward side of upper elevation ridges and these were fairly sensitive to the additional weight of a backcountry rider. With a bit more snow to work with today, I’d expect these new drifts could be a little deeper and more widespread. In addition, there’s some weak surface snow which is now buried and today’s wind slabs may be easier to trigger. More snow is expected today, so be alert to changing weather conditions, especially this afternoon. Slopes you might’ve ridden on in the morning may not react the same way later in the day on your way back to the trailhead.

 

Bottom Line:

At upper elevations, at and above tree-line, the avalanche danger is MODERATE today on slopes steeper than about 35 degrees, with recent deposits of wind drifted snow. A MODERATE avalanche danger means human triggered avalanches are possible. If the weather forecast pans out, I’d expect the avalanche danger may increase to CONSIDERABLE in this type of terrain later in the day, meaning human triggered avalanches are probable.

On wind sheltered slopes less than 35 degrees the avalanche danger is generally LOW.

 

Mountain Weather: 

Periods of snow, heavy at times, will kick into gear through the day and into the overnight hours tonight as a moist and unstable air mass remains in place across the region. If all comes together, we should get about a foot of snow with the bulk of it arriving later in the day. Today will be breezy and much colder with highs at 8,000’ in the mid 20’s and at 10,000’ in the upper teens. Overnight lows are expected to dive into the single digits. Winds will be out of the northwest at speeds of 15-25 mph. High pressure will build across the region on Monday and Tuesday bringing partly cloudy skies and slightly warmer temperatures. Another storm system should impact our area Wednesday through Thursday.

 

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.

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.

This advisory expires 24 hours from the date and time posted, but will be updated by 7:30 am on Monday January 16, 2006.

Thanks for calling!