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| Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains | Issued by Craig Gordon for Wednesday - March 23, 2016 - 6:25am |
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bottom line In the wind zone, at and above treeline, pockets of CONSIDERABLE danger exist and human triggered avalanches are likely on all steep, wind drifted slopes. Any slide that breaks to old snow near the ground has the potential to break deeper and wider than you might expect and can quickly ruin your day. Wind drifted terrain at mid elevations offers MODERATE avalanche danger and human triggered avalanches are possible on steep slopes with recent deposits of wind drifted snow. Out of the wind the avalanche danger is generally LOW.
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special announcement Please help guide our discussions of website maintenance, upgrades or possible changes in coming years. Take this brief survey. As a way of saying thanks we'll be raffling a free avalanche class and other free stuff like hats, beanies, water bottles, etc. |
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current conditions Wow.... great storm for the eastern front! The North Slope got pounded with 16" of medium density snow with about 1.3" of H2O. Snow amounts decrease the further south you travel. Temperatures are in the teens and northwest winds are still busy at work, blowing 25-40 mph along the high ridges. The snow is right-side up, meaning it came in warm and went out cold. It's deep, cold, and over-the-hood.
Uinta weather station network info is found here. Trip reports and observations are found here.
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recent activity By days end yesterday, shallow soft slabs were breaking 8"-10" deep, and sensitive to the additional weight of a rider. Recent avalanche observations are found here
See or trigger an avalanche? Shooting cracks? Hear a collapse? It's simple. Go here to fill out an observation.
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| type | aspect/elevation | characteristics |
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LIKELIHOOD
 LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
 LARGE
SMALL
TREND
 INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
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description
Fresh drifts are today's main avalanche concern. With over a foot of storm snow blanketing the region, there's no shortage in supply. As a matter of fact, today's wind slabs are widespread and they'll be sensitive to the additional weight of a rider. In the wind zone, I wouldn't be surprised to find fresh drifts several feet deep and they'll be packing a punch once triggered. Found mostly on steep, upper elevation, leeward terrain, look for and avoid any fat, rounded piece of snow, particularly if it sounds hollow like a drum. It's an easy equation.... lose a little elevation, you lose the problem and get some incredible riding to boot. Not a bad payoff! Don't forget- shallow snowpack areas exist and there is still a chance of triggering an avalanche that breaks to old, weak snow. Steep, upper elevation, north facing slopes, especially those with a thin, weak snowpack need to be carefully evaluated or better yet, simply avoid terrain with these characteristics.
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weather Snow showers linger over the region this morning and temperatures climb into the upper 20's. Northwest winds blow in the 20's and 30's with gusts in the 50's along the high ridges, but should decrease late in the day. Under clearing skies temperatures dive into the low teens. A break in the action is scheduled for Thursday with another storm slated to impact the region Friday.
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| 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 If Craig is unavailable you can reach his partner Trent at 801-455-7239, email [email protected] 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]. To register for the first in our series of on-the-snow sled specific classes you can register here. 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 on Thursday, March 24th.
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