Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains Issued by Craig Gordon for Wednesday - March 4, 2015 - 4:53am
bottom line

At and above treeline, on steep wind drifted slopes you'll find pockets of CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger and human triggered slides are probable. Avalanches triggered in steep, rocky terrain have the potential to break deeper and wider than you might expect and could get quickly out of hand.

Mid elevation terrain offers MODERATE avalanche danger and human triggered avalanches are possible on steep wind drifted slopes.

Most other terrain offers a LOW avalanche danger.
current conditions

Skies are beginning to clear, temperatures are in the single digits, and northwest winds are blowing 15-25 mph along the high ridges. Looks like a foot of snow blanketed the region, but right around Trial Lake closer to 16" fell. It's deep, it's light, it's over-the-hood and over-the-head. Man... this was a great storm for the eastern front!

Click here for real-time temperatures, snowfall, and winds.
recent activity

Yesterday's new snow was very reactive to the additional weight of a person. Breaking up to 2' deep, easily triggered fresh drifts were the flavor of the day.
Avalanche Problem 1
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

Yesterdays cold front hit the region like a cross-fire hurricane and it was stomping up to 4" an hour as the storm swept through the range. While things went off rather quickly and most steep terrain experienced a shallow natural avalanche cycle, I bet things have quieted down substantially. However, winds have been all over the place and a new batch of fresh drifts most likely continued to develop overnight. These will be isolated to the leeward side of upper elevation ridges and around terrain features like chutes and gullies. Easy to detect by their fat round appearance, today's slabs may be a little more connected than you might expect and once triggered, they'll be packing a punch.

It didn't take much additional weight to get yesterday's storm snow to pop out.
Avalanche Problem 2
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

While not widespread, but harder to detect, there are swaths of sugary snow near the ground, especially in upper elevation terrain facing East, North, and Northeast. The additional weight of yesterday's snow along with a warming trend, combines a few essential ingredients to bring these dormant weak layers back to life. Once triggered, today's avalanches have the potential to break to weak snow near the ground, particularly in steep, rocky terrain. A slide of this nature could quickly get out of hand and certainly is unmanageable. With all the good options for riding today, there's no reason to pull on the dogs tail. A little patience goes a long way in the mountains... it's spring after-all and in a few days the avalanche danger will become more predictable.

Overall a pretty bomber snowpack structure. However, where the snow is thin and weak, like in rocky terrain, it's an entirely different story and avalanches can still break to the ground.
weather

Skies clear this morning and temperatures rise into the low 20's. Northwest winds blow in the teens and low 20's along the ridges. Overnight lows crash to near zero and then a warming trend takes hold for Thursday though the upcoming weekend.
general announcements

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]

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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.

I will update this advisory by 7:00 AM Saturday Mar. 7, 2015.