Wasatch Cache and Uinta National Forests

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

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

.

Avalanche advisory

wednesdAY march 1, 2006

This advisory expires 24 hours from the date and time posted, but will be updated by 7:30 am saturday march 4, 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 Wednesday March 1, 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:

In the wake of yesterday’s epic weather event which included raging winds, rain, a bit of snow and some lightening, things have calmed down dramatically. Skies are partly cloudy and northwesterly winds are blowing 10-20 mph along the highest ridges. Temperatures have fallen significantly in the past 24 hours, into the low teens at 11,000’ and low to mid 20’s at 8,000’. Yesterday’s rain/snow line was hovering around 9,000’ or so, meaning the lower elevation snowpack took a hard hit during the day and reports of bottomless glop were the common theme. Cold overnight temperatures have probably helped to seize up the upper portion of snowpack at lower elevations, but may not have penetrated too deep, making for some interesting low elevation conditions this morning. There is a bright side to the storm, because up high above about 9,200’ nearly 10” of dense new snow fell in the past 24 hours.

Avalanche Conditions:

This morning’s lamb-like weather is nothing compared to the lion that roared through the region yesterday- rain, snow and truck tipping winds all in the course of about 12 hours. Talk about a wild weather day! Over on the North Slope, my partner Ted Scroggin reported fairly good riding and turning conditions above about 9,500’, but getting there meant you had to dress like you were off to a deep-sea fishing expedition. That’s all changed today, though the unusual weather could make for some unusual avalanches. It’s a complex pattern with three distinct avalanche problems today. First off, with such raging hurricane strength winds, I’d suspect slabs would’ve formed in some unlikely places and will be well off of ridgelines where we usually find them. At upper elevations, yesterday’s dense, hard slabs are now covered over with new snow so they’ll be just about impossible to detect. The best bet for today is to avoid any steep, upper elevation, wind loaded slope that has a fat, rounded look or hollow sound to it. Secondly at mid and lower elevations which saw a fair amount of rain, you may be able to trigger a wet avalanche which could gouge deeper into the saturated snowpack. This combination would stack up heavy cement-like snow deep in terrain traps like gullies and road cuts. Finally, depending on cloud cover, should the sun come out in earnest today, the danger of wet avalanches will rise on all steep sun exposed slopes.

Bottom Line:

The avalanche danger is generally MODERATE today at mid and low elevations with both dry and wet human triggered avalanches possible on slopes steeper than about 35 degrees.

Be aware there are pockets of CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger in upper elevation terrain near and above tree-line, especially on slopes steeper than about 35 degrees which have both old and new deposits of wind drifted snow. In this type of terrain, human triggered avalanche are probable.

At all elevations the danger of wet avalanche activity will increase to MODERATE with daytime heating on steep, sun-exposed slopes.

Mountain Weather:

Partly cloudy skies and cooler temperatures are on tap today with a slight possibility of a lingering snow shower or two. Temperatures will be more seasonable with highs at 8,000’ in the low 30’s and at 10,000’ near 20 degrees. Under clear skies, overnight lows will dip into the low 20’s. Winds will generally be light, out of the west and northwest, blowing 10-15 mph with an occasional ridge top gust near 25 mph. Quiet weather is expected on Thursday as brief high pressure builds over the area. By Thursday night, southerly winds begin to increase as another potent storm is poised to slam into the region. Friday should start off warm and windy, before a sharp cold front moves into the region giving us a good shot of snow late in the day through Saturday.

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 Saturday March 4, 2006.

Thanks for calling!