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

saturDAY january 20, 2007

The information in this advisory expires 24 hours after the date and time it’s issued, but will be updated on Sunday January 21, 2007.

 

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, January 20, 2007 and it’s about 7:00 in the morning. Avalanche advisories for the western Uinta’s are available on Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday and all holidays and are brought to you in partnership with Utah State Parks and Recreation.

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 801-231-2170, or email at [email protected] and fill me in with all the details. 

 

Come join us for a star studded fundraising ride on Saturday Jan. 27th. Click here for more details or call 801-963-3819.

 

 

Current Conditions:

High clouds are drifting by the state this morning ahead of a cold front which should slide through the area late tonight, giving us the first measurable shot of snow in some time. Winds are light along the ridges, blowing out of the northwest at 5-10 mph, but near the highest peaks the winds are blowing in the upper teens with gusts near 30 mph. Temperatures remain inverted and it’s about as cold in Salt Lake this morning as it is at most trailhead elevations. 8,000’ temperatures are right around 12 degrees and it’s 18 degrees at 10,000’. The riding and turning conditions are starting to look pretty bleak, but among the breakable sun crusts, old hard-molar-rattling tracks and thin cover, you can still find patches of soft settled powder on protected shady slopes.

 

Avalanche Conditions:

I’m starting to feel like Bill Murray in the movie Groundhog Day. It’s déjà vu all over again… which would actually make it vuja de. None the less, the avalanche conditions haven’t changed much all week and the snowpack remains relatively stable, though in many areas throughout the range the packs strength is deteriorating, especially in rocky terrain. The combination of clear cold days and nights, an erratic storm track and snow depths shallower than average have allowed the snowpack to grow weak and faceted over time. Both the surface snow and the snow near the ground has weakened significantly during our dry January and once it starts snowing or blowing again, we’ll see avalanches. For today however, shallow sluffs on steep shady slopes and an occasional old, rogue wind slab near the ridges are going to be the main avalanche problems. Either one is manageable and a well placed slope cut high on the slope would be a good defensive measure. As always think about the consequences of triggering an avalanche, especially with all the hard slick bed surfaces underneath.

 

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, especially those with both new and old wind drifts. A  MODERATE avalanche danger means human triggered avalanches are possible.

 

Mountain Weather:

A cold Pacific storm will drop south across Utah late today through Sunday. Today we can expect increasing clouds and light snow developing late this afternoon or early evening. Winds will increase later today, blowing out of the west-northwest at speeds of 15-25 mph with gusts in the low 40’s along the highest ridges. Winds should veer to the northeast later tonight and Sunday which will put a damper on snow totals. We might get 2”-4” out of this system. High temperatures at 10,000’ will be in the low to mid 20’s and at 8,000’ near 30 degrees. Overnight lows dive into the low single digits. Sunday should be cold and cloudy with some lingering snow showers. High temperatures only reach into the mid teens. High pressure returns for early next week with a strong warming trend developing. Unfortunately, there are no storms in sight through the end of the month.

 

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!

 

We installed Beacon Basin at the Noblett’s Trailhead and it’s good to go. I want to thank Doug, Bill, Jared, Brad and Wally who

unselfishly took time out of their powder day to help out the riding community… you guys rock!

 

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 7:30 am on Sunday January 21, 2007.

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

1-888-999-4019.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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