Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains | Issued by Craig Gordon for February 9, 2013 - 6:50am |
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Above treeline
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bottom line A MODERATE avalanche danger is found on steep, wind drifted mid and upper elevation terrain and human triggered avalanches are possible. LOW avalanche danger is found on low angle, wind sheltered terrain, where there are no steep slopes above or adjacent to where you're riding.
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special announcement
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current conditions A nice of shot of snow for the southern half of the range stacked up 8"-10" of light density snow from Trial Lake to Currant Creek. The North Slope received about half that amount of love. Southerly winds quickly died off late yesterday and they're currently blowing 10-15 mph along the high ridges. Temperatures are in the low teens. Riding and turning conditions will be quite good on a mostly supportable base. Recent observations can be found here. Wondering why last winter was so crazy? Click here to watch the 2011-12 Utah Winter Review... an excellent recap of last years conditions.
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recent activity Sensitive, yet shallow soft slabs up to a foot deep were easily triggered along upper elevation ridges yesterday. An update on last weeks close call at Monte Cristo is found here. An accident report detailing the very tragic avalanche in the West Fork of the Duchesne can be found here.
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description
Sensitive wind slabs along the leeward side of upper elevation ridges will be today's most obvious and manageable avalanche concern. You'll find the vast majority of these on steep leeward slopes facing the north half of the compass. While mostly manageable in size, a fresh wind drift could quickly get out of hand, especially if it breaks into weaker layers of the snowpack as it crashes down on the slope below.
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type | aspect/elevation | characteristics |
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Above treeline
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description
Our recent round of snow and wind isn't enough weight to reactivate our buried January facets, but I'm not ready to let my guard down and center punch big terrain quite yet. While isolated, avalanches breaking deeper and wider than you might expect can still be triggered, especially in steep, complex terrain. If your travels take you into committing terrain today, carefully assess the snowpack and consider the consequences of triggering a slide.
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weather After a break in the action another wave of snow should reach the region late today with an additional 5"-10" of snow expected by Sunday morning. Winds shift to the northwest and remain in the 15-20 mph range. temperatures don't vary much from where we're at this morning. |
general annoucements Remember your information can save lives. If you see anything we should know about, please participate in the creation of our own community avalanche advisory by submitting snow and avalanche conditions. You can call me directly at 801-231-2170, email [email protected], or email by clicking HERE This is a great time of year to schedule a free avalanche awareness presentation for your group or club. You can contact me at 801-231-2170 or email [email protected] Donate to your favorite non-profit –The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center. The UAC depends on contributions from users like you to support our work. The information in this advisory is from the US Forest Service which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur. The information in this advisory expires 24 hours after the date and time posted, but will be updated by 7:00 AM Sunday February 10th. |