In partnership with:
Tri-City
Performance, Polaris, the
The information in this advisory expires 24 hours after
the date and time it’s issued, but will be updated Saturday March 17, 2007.
Good Morning! This is Craig
Gordon with the
This
advisory covers the terrain from Daniels Summit, to
Current Conditions:
High clouds began streaming in over the area late
last night ahead of a weak cold front slated to reach the region sometime late
this afternoon. About the only place it feels like winter this morning is along
the high ridges were winds are out of the northwest blowing 20-30 mph. The
snowpack hasn’t received a good solid refreeze since the morning of the 11th
and after yesterday’s blistering high of 50 degrees at 10,000’ it’s cooled off
to a mild 33 degrees at both the trailhead and ridge-top elevations. Riding and
sliding conditions consist of patches of damp powder on high elevation north
facing slopes to supportable melt-freeze crusts on south aspects. In between
there’s everything from challenging crusts to rock hard, molar rattling old
tracks.
Avalanche Conditions:
Yesterday, Ted and I
poked around on upper elevation north facing slopes where we not only found
good powder riding, we also got to witness a natural
avalanche as it peeled
off the steep hanging snowfields of the east face of Reid’s Peak during the
heat of the day. Wet point releases have also been occurring on steep west
facing slopes late in the day too. Today should be much of the same, so you’ll
want to follow the usual spring mantra and stay off of and out from under steep,
sun exposed slopes as the day heats up.
In addition to heat
related wet avalanches on steep east, south and west facing slopes, I think
there’s still an isolated possibility of triggering a deep avalanche which
breaks into weak, sugary facets on slopes facing the north half of the compass.
The most likely place to trigger a slide like this will be on slopes which have
a shallow snowpack and steep rocky terrain would be a likely suspect.
While the avalanche
activity in our neck of the woods has been predictably limited, the central
Historically, our
temperatures tend to be just a few degrees cooler than our nearby neighbors and
this is probably helping to keep things at bay for the moment. However, with our
weak snowpack it’s only a matter of time before the heat catches up with us and
things start to come unglued. After today’s little cool down, the combination
of above average temperatures and marginal nightly refreezes are on tap for the
foreseeable future. This one-two punch may be the recipe to send the Uinta’s
into widespread avalanche cycle by weeks end.
Bottom Line:
The danger of wet avalanche
activity will rise from MODERATE this morning
to CONSIDERABLE
during the heat of the day on steep sun exposed slopes at all elevations. A CONSIDERABLE
avalanche danger means human
triggered avalanches are probable, natural avalanches possible.
There is also a MODERATE danger of triggering a deep, dangerous old hard slab
especially on steep, rocky upper elevation slopes with a shallow weak snowpack
and large, dangerous human triggered avalanches are still possible.
Mountain Weather:
A mixture of high thin clouds and sunshine are
slated for the region today with a slight chance of a snow shower or two and
cooling temperatures late this afternoon. Snow levels initially near 10,000 feet will fall to around 8000 feet by
early this evening. Highs today at
8,000’ will be in the mid to upper 40’s and at 10,000’ near 42 degrees. Overnight
lows under mostly cloudy skies will dip into the mid 20’s. Winds will become
westerly during the day and blow in the 20-30 mph range with an occasional gust
in the 40’s along the high ridges. As the front approaches, winds shift to the
northwest and should mellow out by morning. High pressure quickly
rebounds across the area for the latter half of the week into the upcoming
weekend with continued warm temperatures.
Announcements:
I completed a
preliminary investigation on the avalanche accident that occurred on Saturday
Feb.17th in
The
I’d like to thank Jim Shea, The Canyons and Colleen
Graham from the Friends of the UAC for all their hard work in making the Know
Before You Go fundraiser such a success!
The first annual western Uinta fundraising ride was
an amazing success with nearly 150 people showing up for the ride alone!
I want to thank the Jim Shea Family Foundation,
Rocky Mountain Sledders, the Wasatch Snowmobile Association and the Utah
Snowmobile Association for all their tireless work in putting the event
together. Thanks again to Team Thunderstruck and the Boondockers
crew for helping out and schooling even the most experienced riders. Also, we
couldn’t have pulled it off if it weren’t for Chad Booth who did an incredible
job as both master of ceremonies and auctioneer. Finally, it wouldn’t have been
possible without the support of everyone who attended… you folks are awesome!
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 7:00 am on Saturday
March 17, 2007.
This advisory is also available by calling
1-800-648-7433 or
1-888-999-4019.
.