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 november 18, 2006

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, November 15, 2006 and it’s about 7:00 in the morning. The information in this advisory expires 24 hours after the date and time it’s issued. Avalanche advisories for the western Uinta’s 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:

High clouds are beginning to stream into the area as a weak system clips northern Utah. Current temperatures are in the mid 20’s and winds are out of the west-northwest averaging 15 mph with an occasional gust in the low 30’s. Riding and turning conditions are a mixed bag right now. Yesterday, low elevation snow got damp and sticky and probably developed a challenging crust overnight. At mid and upper elevations the snowpack is still quite thin, but you can squeak out a few turns or a mellow ride on low angle, grassy slopes.

Avalanche Conditions:

The mild temperatures this week have helped the snowpack gain a little bit of strength, but I still have some reservations about jumping into a steep northerly facing slope. First off, terrain facing the north half of the compass had pre-existing snow prior to this week’s big storm, and as you might’ve guessed, over time the snow near the ground grew weak and surgary. This is what avalanche geeks call faceted snow and it’s got the strength of a pile of potato chips. Now, along comes the big Tuesday storm with strong winds and heavy snow and it slams down on the weak layer. In some terrain the potato chips failed and we saw natural avalanches. In other places the faceted snow needs a little more of a thump to get it to avalanche. This weekend there are isolated places, especially on steep shady slopes at the upper elevations, where you could trigger a slide and the consequences of getting caught would, at the very least, severely ruin your day.

Remember- early season avalanche accidents and close calls occur each year. As a matter of fact, this week several close calls and one text book rescue occurred in the Salt Lake Area Mountains. If your travels take you into the mountains today utilize good route finding skills and be prepared for your own self rescue. Carry and know how to use an avalanche beacon, shovel and probe.

Bottom Line:

At and above tree-line, the avalanche danger is MODERATE on all slopes steeper than about 35 degrees facing the north half of the compass especially those with both old and recent deposits of wind drifted snow. A MODERATE avalanche danger means human triggered avalanches are possible.

At mid and lower elevations and on slopes which didn’t have any pre-existing snow prior to last weekend’s storm the avalanche danger is generally LOW.

Mountain Weather:

A weak storm system should graze northern Utah today bringing us mostly cloudy skies and light snow showers. Temperatures will be mild with 8,000’ highs in the mid to upper 30’s and near freezing at 10,000’. Overnight lows dip into the upper 20’s. Winds will generally blow from the west and northwest at speeds of 10-20 mph with gusts in the mid 30’s along the high ridges. Skies clear after midnight and strong high pressure builds Sunday through about midweek. The next chance of snow should be around Thanksgiving, but the computer models are already bickering among themselves as to the strength and track of the storm. We’ll keep you posted as things develop.

Announcements:

Free avalanche awareness classes are available. Give me a call at 801-231-2170 or email [email protected] and get one scheduled before the season gets too crazy!

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

For avalanche photos click here.

General Information:

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.

I will update this information as conditions warrant.

This advisory is also available by calling 1-800-648-7433.

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