Wasatch
Cache and Uinta National
Forests 
In partnership with:
Tri-City Performance, Polaris, the
Avalanche ADVISORY
wednesDAY
january 17, 2007
The information in this advisory expires 24 hours after
the date and time it’s issued, but will be updated on Saturday January 20,
2007.
Good Morning! This is Craig
Gordon with the
This
advisory covers the terrain from Daniels Summit, to
Come join us for
a star studded fundraising ride on Saturday Jan. 27th. Click here for more details or call 801-963-3819.
We installed
unselfishly took time out of
their powder day to help out the riding community… you guys rock!
Current Conditions:
Talk about some boring
weather. High pressure remains firmly entrenched over the region giving us mostly
clear skies this morning, light winds and inverted temperatures. Currently at
10,000’ it’s near 10 degrees and at 8,000’ we’re still in the single digits,
hovering right around 5 degrees. The lack of new snow, hard old tracks and a
variety of crusts on the sunny slopes have led to many of my friends to vow
they’re not going out until there’s more new snow. However, for you diehards
there are still patches soft settled powder on sheltered shady slopes and peak
bagging in the beautiful sunshine is worth the effort.
Avalanche Conditions:
The avalanche
conditions are about as dull as the weather, though on steep slopes you may still
be able to get loose, cohesionless snow to sluff with you. Sluffs are usually pretty
benign, but in this case there’s a host of hard slick bed surfaces underneath and
if you’re not paying attention you could get knocked off your skis or machine
on a sustained steep slope. It’s pretty unlikely that you’ll trigger an
avalanche today. However if you’re nosing into steep, radical leeward terrain
at upper elevations where the winds have been moving snow around for the past
few days, be aware you may still be able to trigger an isolated old hard slab
or two. Pay attention to and avoid steep slopes with hard, hollow sounding
snow.
Bottom Line:
On most slopes throughout the range the avalanche
danger is generally LOW.
In upper elevation terrain above tree line there are
isolated pockets of MODERATE
avalanche danger today on slopes steeper than about 35 degrees with both
old and recent deposits of wind drifted snow. A MODERATE
avalanche danger means human triggered avalanches are possible.
Mountain Weather:
While
a weak system clips northern Utah late today and high clouds may drift through
the area tonight along with a flurry or two, in general high pressure remains
over the region as far as the eye can see. Expect highs today in the upper 20’s
at 8,000’ and low to mid 20’s at 10,000’. Overnight lows drop into the single
digits. Southwesterly winds may increase late today, into the 15-25 mph range
along the ridges, before turning northwest this evening as cooler air sinks
into the area. Partly cloudy skies and colder temperatures are on tap for
Thursday with highs only reaching into the low 20’s. A return to sunny skies
and warming temperatures are slated for Friday and Saturday.
Announcements:
Come join us for a star studded fundraising ride on
Saturday Jan. 27th. Click here
for more details.
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!
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.
.