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

saturdAY january 21, 2006

This advisory expires 24 hours from the date and time posted, but will be updated by 7:30 am sunday january 22, 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 Saturday, January 21, 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 for assisting in the installation 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 the Utah Avalanche Center’s western Uinta avalanche forecasting 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:

A weak little storm system crept into the area late last night, bringing with it clouds, light snow showers and seasonably cold temperatures. Currently at 8,000’ it’s in the low teens and at 11,000’ near 5 degrees. Winds picked up at about 7:00 last night and have been blowing steadily out of the west-northwest with hourly averages in the mid teens and gusts in the upper 20’s along the high ridgelines. By all accounts, the riding and turning conditions are epic and other than some crusts you may find on sunny slopes today, it’s pretty hard to go wrong wherever your travels take you.

 

Avalanche Conditions:

If you had this week off of work, you scored big! Several feet of new snow fell since the beginning of the week, resulting in the best powder conditions we’ve experienced all year. With a mostly stable snowpack and lack of any strong winds to form a slab, people have been getting after it without incident. The only avalanches I’ve seen or triggered in recent days have been loose and fairly benign. However, the avalanche conditions are going to be a little different today, because overnight the winds did pick up. With all this light fluffy snow to work with, there are going to be some fresh wind drifts you’ll want to avoid, especially on steep slopes at the upper elevations. Today’s wind slabs will be a little stiffer and more sensitive than the past few days, but they should still be pretty manageable and relatively soft. The most likely place to encounter any unstable snow today is going to be up high, on the leeward side of ridgelines facing the north half of the compass.  Though be aware, some cross-loading may have taken place around gullies and chutes as well. A good way to get information about snow stability is by tweaking small test slopes with little consequence which are similar in aspect, elevation and slope angle to what you want to ride on. Get as much information as you can before center-punching a big line and always think about the consequences of triggering even a small avalanche.  

 

Bottom Line:

For 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.

In wind sheltered terrain on slopes less steep than 35 degrees, the avalanche danger is generally LOW.

 

Mountain Weather: 

A weak storm system will move through the area today, resulting in periods of light snow this morning. Snow showers will linger through the afternoon before tapering off this evening. New snow totals from this system pale in comparison to our recent bout of big storms with only 1”-3” expected. Skies will be mostly cloudy and it’ll feel like January out there today. High temperatures at 8,000’ will be in the low 20’s and at 10,000’ in the low to mid teens. Winds are going to be a little bit of an issue this morning, blowing out of the west at speeds of 15-25 mph, but should relax towards the end of the day. High pressure builds across the region Sunday through midweek bringing dry weather, slightly warmer temperatures and mostly sunny skies. The next chance of snow looks to come towards the end of the upcoming week.

 

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 Sunday January 22, 2006.

Thanks for calling!