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 Wednesday March 21, 2007.
Good Morning! This is Craig
Gordon with the
This
advisory covers the terrain from Daniels Summit, to
A SPECIAL AVALANCHE ADVISORY HAS BEEN CONTINUED FOR
THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTHERN UTAH, INCLUDING THE
Current Conditions:
Even under mostly clear skies, it remained
relatively mild last night. There was a slight surface refreeze and currently
temperatures are pretty uniform at all elevations, hovering right around
freezing. After a spike in wind speeds yesterday afternoon, they’ve quieted
down and are blowing out of the northwest at speeds of 15-20 mph along the
ridges. Yesterday the snow surface was toast at around 12:00 or so, and with a
marginal overnight freeze it’ll become bottomless glop by about the same time.
Avalanche Conditions:
The lack of a solid
refreeze the past few nights is taking its toll on the snowpack, especially at
mid and lower elevations. With strong sunshine overhead yesterday, I felt like an
ant under a magnifying glass and by lunch time the snow had become completely
unsupportable… kinda like riding in a giant slurpy. While most
of the lower elevation avalanche activity has been confined to pockety wet slabs, remember- even if you’re playing on
relatively benign slopes, look at the terrain you’re riding under. Wet
avalanches can start on steep slopes above you and can pile up tremendous
amounts of debris on road cuts and in terrain traps such as gullies. Also,
avoid taking a break or changing a spark plug under steep slopes especially
during the heat of the day. Today you’ll need to get an early start and call it
a day once the snow gets wet and gloppy. With a
slight refreeze the snow surface will feel hard and supportable, but underneath
the supportable “melt-freeze” crust, the sugary facets formed way back in
January are weak and saturated with water. Today it’ll be possible to ride on a
slope and feel confident with its strength. However, wet slabs work much like
their dangerous winter cousin- dry snow hard slab avalanches. Once you find a
weak spot in the snowpack, it’ll collapse, and in this case you’ll trigger a
large, dangerous and unsurvivable wet slab avalanche. Wet slabs are nothing to
mess with because the consequences are so severe. Not only do these slow moving
giants snap trees like tooth picks, they’ll grab a hold of you and your
machine, making it impossible to get out of the cement-like snow.
Today you’ll need to
carefully assess the terrain you’re riding in and take the time to dig into the
snowpack to see what kind of snow you’re riding on. If you’ve got a strong supportable
slab on top of weak, wet sugary facets… you’ve got a problem.
These warm temperatures
won’t last forever and there’s a change in the weather pattern on tap for early
in the week along with the possibility of some late season powder riding. If you
take a conservative approach with your riding today and tomorrow, you’ll be
rewarded with some freshies by mid week.
Bottom Line:
The danger of wet avalanche
activity will rise from CONSIDERABLE- meaning
human triggered avalanches are probable and natural avalanches possible- to HIGH during the heat of the day on steep sun exposed slopes at all
elevations. A HIGH avalanche danger means both human triggered and
natural avalanches are likely.
Mountain Weather:
Two
more days of sweltering weather are tap for the region before a dramatic change
takes place. Today will be a carbon copy of Saturday, though a weak cold front
moving through the area early this morning might keep us from record setting
high temperatures. At 10,000’ we should hit 42 degrees and it’ll reach into the
mid 50’s at 8,000’. Overnight lows will be right around freezing. The flow
aloft shifts to southwest tonight ahead of much stronger Pacific system
anticipated to reach the area by Tuesday night. Wind and clouds will increase late
Monday, though it will remain very mild. A cold front will be preceded by
scattered showers late Monday night and Tuesday. An organized area of heavy
snow develops Tuesday evening and then scattered snow showers are slated for
early Wednesday. It looks like we should see 4”-8” of new snow before it’s said
and done. High pressure and rapidly warming temperatures return for the latter
half of the week.
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
Wednesday March 21, 2007.
This advisory is also available by calling
1-800-648-7433 or
1-888-999-4019.
.