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 29, 2006

This advisory expires 24 hours from the date and time posted, but will be updated by 7:30 am sunday february 1, 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 29, 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:

In conjunction with Backcountry Awareness Week, January 30th through February 5th, the second annual “Know Before You 
Go” avalanche education fund raising dinner will be held at Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort this Friday Feb. 3rd at 6:00 pm. 
Guest speakers include Conrad Anker and Apa Sherpa, both seasoned Mt. Everest climbers. Tickets are going fast, but 

you can reserve a seat and help support this vital program by going to backcountryawareness.com or simply call

801-933-2147.

 
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:

Yesterday’s cold front reached the mountains around noon and boy did it make its presence known. Gusty west and northwest winds accompanied the front and snow began falling right around lunch time. We’ve received 7” of new snow in the past 24 hours, bringing storm totals to about 14” above 9,500’. Even the lower elevations didn’t do too badly on this one and it looks like 4”-6” fell down around the trailheads. It’s another cold one out there today, with current 11,000’ temperatures near 8 degrees and at 8,000’ it’s in the low 20’s. Winds are relaxing a bit, blowing 10-20 mph along the high ridges. Low angle, wind sheltered terrain will be the ticket for the goods today, where you’ll find deep, light, in your face powder riding conditions.

 

Avalanche Conditions:

It’s been a good storm for us, but the combination of new snow and yesterday’s strong west and northwest winds created very touchy soft slab avalanche conditions. I triggered these fresh wind drifts while moving along upper elevation ridges and once I was out of the wind, the flavor of the day turned to medium sized sluffs which were running fast and far. With an additional 7” of heavier density snow and strong winds overnight, the avalanche danger has risen in the past 24 hours and things aren’t as clear cut as they were yesterday.

Here’s what’s going on- the new storm snow is now a little bit inverted which simply means we have heavier snow on lighter snow. So just like an upside-down cake, it’s a bad combination. Now here’s the tricky part of the equation… all of this is resting on top of a complex variety of old snow surfaces. Up high on the shady slopes, there’s stout, slick wind crusts formed by Monday’s wind event and on sunny slopes there’s a slick melt-freeze crust. Both of these will act as good sliding surfaces for today’s avalanches to run on. In addition, there are patches of weak, old surface snow that are now buried and preserved and these can be found in wind sheltered terrain facing the north half of the compass. We’re probably getting close to adding enough weight to these layers and it may be possible to trigger avalanches which gouge into this older snow on steep slopes, creating an avalanche which will pack a pretty good punch. The best bet for today is to take some time and tweak small test slopes with little consequence and see how they’re reacting, before going after the big stuff. Dig down with your hand and see what kind of surface all this new snow is resting on, so you can make informed decisions and be flexible with your travel plans. Finally, the strong winds would have loaded slopes in some unusual places, so be on the lookout for wind loading which may have occurred a little further down slope than you might expect. Also be aware of drifts that formed in gullies, chutes and around sub-ridges.

 

Bottom Line:

For upper elevations, at and above tree-line, the avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE today on slopes steeper than about 35 degrees with recent deposits of wind drifted snow. A CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger means human triggered avalanches are probable, natural avalanches possible.

A MODERATE avalanche danger exists at mid elevations on slopes steeper than about 35 degrees with recent wind drifts. A MODERATE   avalanche danger means human triggered avalanches are possible.

On low angle slopes in wind sheltered terrain the avalanche danger is generally LOW.

 

Mountain Weather: 

A short-lived ridge of high pressure is beginning to build. After a few scattered snow showers early this morning, we should see a break in the action with partly cloudy skies by early afternoon. Highs today at 8,000’ will be in the low to mid 20’s and at 10,000’ in the mid teens. Overnight lows will be near 10 degrees. Westerly winds will be blowing for most of the day at speeds of 15-25 mph along the ridges. A moist westerly flow will overspread the region late tonight, in advance of a Pacific storm system, which impacts the area late Monday through early Tuesday. Monday we should see snow developing by late afternoon with moderate southwest winds and warming temperatures. Snow densities from this system will be much higher than the fluff we’ve been seeing in the past few storms. An active pattern should remain in place through about 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 Wednesday February 1, 2006.

Thanks for calling!