Wasatch
Cache and Uinta National
Forests 
In partnership with:
Tri-City Performance, Polaris, the
Avalanche ADVISORY
sunDAY
decemBER 10, 2006
The information in this advisory expires 24 hours after
the date and time it’s issued, and will be updated
Good Morning! This is Craig
Gordon with the
This
advisory covers the terrain from Daniels Summit, to
Current Conditions:
A change in the weather
pattern is finally just a few hours away. Southerly winds are cranking along
the ridges, with hourly averages in the 20’s and gusts in the upper 40’s. Under
partly cloudy skies, current 8,000’ temperatures are in the upper 20’s and it’s
near 22 degrees at 10,000’. Snow conditions haven’t improved since yesterday
and you may be better off getting your chores done this morning and allowing
some new snow to fall, cushioning the hard old snow surface. A “dusk” patrol
might just be the ticket! If you’re really chomping at the bit though, current
surface snow conditions run the gamut from breakable crust on sunny slopes to
wind slab in open exposed bowls and just plain moonscape at the upper
elevations. If you poke around long enough you will find patches of soft
settled powder on protected shady slopes. However, the most accurate way to
describe the riding and turning conditions right now is- consistently
inconsistent.
Avalanche Conditions:
With a storm at our doorstep the avalanche danger will be on the rise, especially later in the day as the new snow starts to pile up and the winds whip the snow into sensitive drifts. Today’s main avalanche concern is going to be these newly formed wind drifts which will be found on the leeward side of ridges and around terrain features like gullies and chutes. While shallow and manageable, I think they will be sensitive to the additional weight of a rider. If the weather forecast pans out, sensitive wind slabs will become deeper and more widespread throughout the day and Monday morning.
In the bigger snowpack picture, our current pack is a patchwork of variable snow depths and strengths making for an increasingly complicated snow stability pattern. It’ll get tricky once it begins to snow in earnest, but I don’t think this is going to be storm to push us over the edge. While the sugary faceted surface snow is fragile and there are plenty of weak layers near the ground, it doesn’t look like we’ll see the “perfect storm” any time soon that’s going to wash our snowpack worries away.
Bottom Line:
On most slopes throughout the range the avalanche
danger is generally LOW
this morning.
As the new snow starts to stack up the avalanche
danger will rise to MODERATE
on slopes steeper than about 35 degrees, especially those with recent
deposits of wind drifted snow. A MODERATE avalanche danger means human triggered avalanches
are possible.
Mountain Weather:
A fast moving storm system
will begin to affect the region late this morning and should linger into early
Monday. Winds will be strong throughout the day, out of the south and
southeast, averaging 20-30 mph with gusts in the 50’s and 60’s along the
highest ridges. Snow showers develop later this morning and it looks like we’ll
get 2”-4” of new snow before nightfall. Temperatures will remain mild until the
cold front arrives tonight. Highs at 8,000’ will be in the low 30’s and at
10,000’ in the mid 20’s. Overnight lows dive into the low teens. Late tonight
the winds switch to the west and northwest and we might be able to squeak an
additional 4”-6” of snow out of the storm.
On Monday we can expect snow
showers throughout the morning with daytime highs in the low 20’s. A couple of
wimpy storms move into the area around mid week with a stronger looking system
still advertised by the computer models for next weekend.
Announcements:
I want to thank the crew at Tri-City Performance in
Springville along with Polaris and the Utah Snowmobile Association for
partnering with the avalanche center and stepping up to the plate by providing
a new sled for this season! Click
here, to
see the new
ride!
The
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’ll update this
advisory by
This advisory is
also available by calling 1-800-648-7433 or
1-888-999-4019.
.