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.

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Avalanche advisory

saturdAY march 25, 2006

This advisory expires 24 hours from the date and time posted, but will be updated by 7:30 am sunday march 26, 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 March 25, 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. 

 

Current Conditions:

Southerly winds started cranking early this morning in advance of a Pacific storm which is slated to arrive late tonight. Along the upper elevation ridges, hourly averages are in the 20’s with gusts in the low 30’s. Currently at 8,000’ temperatures are in the upper 20’s and along the higher elevation peaks at 11,000’ it’s 25 degrees. No new snow has fallen since the mid week storm, but surprisingly good riding and turning conditions still exist on sheltered mid and upper elevation shady slopes.

 

Avalanche Conditions:

It will be a tale of two snowpacks today with two distinctly different avalanche problems to be on the lookout for. First off, up high there is still enough fluffy snow to blow around and today’s strong winds will have no problem finding it and whipping up fresh wind drifts along the leeward side of ridges and around terrain features like chutes and gullies. I’d suspect as the day wares on, stubborn hard slabs will form in the wind zone at the upper elevations and they have the possibility of breaking both above you and a little wider than you might think. Avoid steep slopes with rounded, chalky looking drifts especially those that feel hollow or have a drum-like sound to them.

The second avalanche concern will be wet avalanches on steep slopes at all elevations. With a marginal snowpack refreeze overnight, especially at lower elevations, it’s not going to take much heating in order to make the snow damp and sloppy. While the mixture of strong winds and increasing clouds may help to temper today’s wet avalanche activity, remember- if the snow you’re on is getting wet and gloppy, simply switch to a cooler aspect to avoid triggering a wet slide or sluff. In addition, avoid terrain traps such as gullies especially during the heat of the day, where wet heavy, cement-like avalanche debris can pile up deeply.

 

Bottom Line:

The avalanche danger in upper elevation terrain near and above tree-line, is MODERATE today on slopes steeper than about 35 degrees, especially those with recent deposits of wind drifted snow. Human triggered avalanches are possible.

The danger of wet avalanches will rise to MODERATE today at all elevations on steep, sun exposed slopes during the heat of the day.

 

Mountain Weather: 

Increasing clouds, strong winds and mild temperatures are on tap today, all ahead of a strong cold front which should give us a decent shot of snow lingering into Sunday morning. South winds will be the big issue today and they’ll be very strong by this afternoon, with gusts into the 60’s along the ridges. Highs today at 8,000’ will be in the low to mid 40’s and at 10,000’ near 35 degrees. Lightening is a possibility when the cold front arrives late tonight and temperatures will crash into the mid teens. Winds should shift to the west around midnight and this will help to usher in the storm. It looks like it’ll be more huff than fluff with storm totals in the 3”-6” range. Sunday will be mostly cloudy and breezy with a scattered snow shower or two and highs will only get into the upper 20’s. Brief high pressure builds for Monday and another system slides into the region mid week.  

 

Announcements:

 
If any terms confuse you, take a look at our new avalanche encyclopedia.
 
“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.

 

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 March 26, 2006.

Thanks for calling!