Wasatch Cache and Uinta National Forests

In partnership with: Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center, The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center and Utah State Parks.

Avalanche advisory

sundAY january 1, 2006

This advisory expires 24 hours from the date and time posted, but will be updated by 7:30 am monday january 2, 2006 with a holiday forecast.

Good morning and happy New Year! 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 Sunday, January 1, 2006 and it’s 7:00 a.m. Avalanche advisories for the western Uintas are available on Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday and all holidays.

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 1-800-662-4140, or 801-231-2170, or email to [email protected] and fill us in with all the details.

Announcements:

A special thanks to Tri-City Performance, Polaris and The Utah Snowmobile Association for stepping up to the plate and partnering
to provide a new sled for this program. 
 
The Moffit Peak weather station is up and running. This site was made possible through generous donations
by BRORA, The Utah Snowmobile Association, and the National Weather Service. You can view data by clicking here.

For avalanche photos click here.

A special avalanche statement has been issued for the western Uinta Mountains today. Heavy snow and strong winds have elevated the avalanche danger to HIGH. Both natural and human triggered avalanches are likely. Backcountry travelers should avoid being on steep slopes or underneath avalanche runout zones.

Current Conditions:

The western Uinta’s got hammered and in the past 24 hours we’ve received nearly 3’ of new snow, mostly falling as dense, heavy glop, especially at lower elevations. The cold front finally arrived late last night and temperatures have been falling steadily since. Currently near the trailheads it’s in the low to mid 20’s and along the ridges, in the upper teens. Winds are still blowing out of the west and northwest at speeds of 15-30 mph at the most exposed locations. Riding and turning conditions are difficult particularly at the upper elevations where new snow depths are reaching wallowing proportions.

Avalanche Conditions:

I unfortunately have to start this New Year advisory off on a sad note. Two snowshoers triggered a large avalanche near Emerald Lake on Mount Timpanogas yesterday. One was able to ride out the avalanche and is ok, the other is still missing. I’ll post more details as they become available. While we might be psyched with all the new snow, the snowpack is beginning to feel the affects of a rapid load in such a short period of time. The storm snow, water totals and strong winds have all conspired to make it downright dangerous out there. My field day around Bald Mountain yesterday was surrealistic. Visibility was poor, it was snowing sideways and the winds were blasting. In wind exposed terrain, new snow drifts were up to 5’ deep and every test slope I approached cracked around me. I didn’t see any natural avalanche activity because the visibility was so heinous, but all the signs of instability are there. While our snowpack has been relatively well-behaved this season, we’re finally putting its strength to the test. I think avalanches triggered today have the potential to step down into deeper buried weak layers in the snowpack, especially on slopes where the pack is relatively thin and weak, creating a large, dangerous and possibly unsurvivable slide. Steep rocky areas would be likely suspect terrain.

Due to the strong winds, be aware that slabs have formed in unusual places such as lower down on the slope than you might think and avalanches could be triggered as you approach the slope from the bottom. In addition the usual suspects- the leeward side of ridges, chutes, sub-ridges and gullies should be approached with caution. If you’re looking to stay out of avalanche danger today, stick with low angle slopes in wind sheltered terrain. Like always though, be aware of steep slopes above and adjacent to what you’re riding on and avoid avalanche runout zones.

Bottom Line:

At upper elevations, at and above tree-line, the avalanche danger is HIGH today on all slopes steeper than about 35 degrees with recent deposits of wind drifted snow. A HIGH avalanche danger means both natural and human triggered avalanches are likely.

At mid elevations the avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE today on all slopes steeper than about 35 degrees with recent wind drifts. Human triggered avalanches are probable.

Mountain Weather:

The storm is exiting the state, but we should still see some scattered snow showers early this morning, then skies will become partly cloudy this afternoon as we get a break in between storm systems. Temperatures will be a little cooler today with highs at 8,000’ reaching into the low 30’s and at 10,000’ near 26 degrees. Overnight lows drop into the mid teens. Winds will be out of the west and northwest blowing 15-25 mph along the ridges, but should start to diminish by about lunch time, before increasing out of the southwest this evening ahead of the next strong storm system.

The next strong Pacific system is lined up to impact the area on Monday. Strong winds are expected tonight and Monday with periods of heavy snow through Monday night. It quiets down mid week and another storm is possible for Saturday.

General Information:

If you haven’t taken one of our free snowmobile specific avalanche awareness classes, schedule one now before things get too crazy. Give me a call at 801-231-2170 and I’d be happy to tailor a talk for your group.

Also, once there’s enough snow, I’ll have the “Beacon Basin” training site up and running again this year at the Nobletts trailhead.

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.

This advisory expires 24 hours from the date and time posted, but will be updated by 7:30 am on Monday January 2, 2006.

Thanks for calling!