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

saturdAY december 24, 2005

This advisory expires 24 hours from the date and time posted, but will be updated by 7:30 am sunday December 25, 2005.

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, December 24, 2005 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 uac@avalanche.org and fill us in with all the details.

Announcements:

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.

Current Conditions:

Skies continued to clear last night as a ridge of high pressure builds over the state. Temperatures are pretty even across the board and currently it’s in the low to mid 20’s at both the trailheads and near the upper elevation ridges. Winds are northerly, blowing 15-25 mph along the high peaks. No new snow has fallen in the past 24 hours, but Thursday nights storm deposited about 6” of snow above 9,000’. It’s a mixed bag out there especially with the rain/snow line so high. Down low you’ll find some rough going through the mix of rain crusts and frozen glop, but in the high country the powder is cold and dry. Shady wind protected slopes offer up the best riding and sliding.

Avalanche Conditions:

It’s a tale of two snowpacks today. Don’t get discouraged when you unload at the trailheads this morning thinking you should’ve bought that one last gift rather than going out for a quick morning ride, because up high, it’s still winter. In fact, the combination of Thursday’s storm snow, coupled with yesterday’s strong gusty winds, formed rather sensitive wind drifts about a foot deep at the upper elevations. Several of my favorite steep test slopes near Bald Mountain Pass, avalanched naturally as a result. While I think most sensitivities mellowed out in the past 24 hours, there are still places you could trigger a wind drift today. I’d be cautious in steep, leeward, upper elevation terrain which faces the north half of the compass. Before committing to a bold line, test small slopes similar to those you want to ride on which have little or no consequence if something goes wrong. Even though today’s avalanches may be small, pockety and fairly manageable, one could be big enough to knock you off you machine or skis, putting a damper on the holiday festivities.

Down low, below about 8,500’ a mix of damp snow and rain fell on Thursday night and the lower elevation snowpack should be fairly seized up this morning. However, if the snow you’re riding on gets damp and mushy during the heat of the day, just switch to a cooler aspect to avoid any wet avalanche activity.

Bottom Line:

In upper elevation terrain, at and above tree line, the avalanche danger is MODERATE today on northwest through east facing slopes steeper than about 35 degrees, especially those with recent deposits of wind drifted snow. Human triggered avalanches are possible.

In wind protected terrain and on slopes less steep than 35 degrees the avalanche danger is generally LOW.

Mountain Weather:

It’s going to be a beautiful day with light winds, mild temperatures and an occasional high cloud or two drifting through the area. Highs today at 10,000’ will be in the upper 20’s and at 8,000’ in the mid 30’s. Overnight lows should dip into the low 20’s. Winds will be light and northerly, blowing less than 20 mph along the high ridges. Sunday looks about the same, though clouds and winds should start to increase later in the day as the ridge of high pressure shifts to the east. This allows the door to open to a series of Pacific systems which begin to affect the state late Sunday through Tuesday. The first one looks weak and its effects will be negligible. A second, stronger storm arrives late Monday offering up a little better chance of snow, but it may split and dive south. I’ll probably have a better feel for these upcoming storms on tomorrows advisory.

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 Sunday December 25, 2005.

Thanks for calling!