Ad
The National Forest Service Logo
icon-add Observation
Forecasts
Logan Ogden Salt Lake Provo Uintas Skyline Moab Abajos Weather Archives How to read the forecast
Observations & Avalanches
Submit Observation NEW - Observations Explorer All Observations Avalanches Fatalities Place Names Map Archives
Education
Avalanche Awareness Develop Skills On-Snow Courses Resources and Tutorials
Events
Store
About
Contact Who we are Core Values Staff Board of Directors Past Forecasters Sponsors Annual Reports Sign In
Blog
icon-add Observation
Donate / Join

Forecast for the Uintas Area Mountains

Craig Gordon
Issued by Craig Gordon for
Thursday, November 24, 2016

In the wind zone, at and above treeline, pockets of MODERATE avalanche danger exist and human triggered avalanches are possible, especially on steep, wind drifted, shady slopes facing the north half of the compass.

Out of the wind at mid and low elevations the avalanche danger is generally LOW.

Heads up- both Mirror Lake Highway and Wolf Creek Pass are still open and access to avalanche terrain is relatively easy. Remember... just cause you can see your rig from a ridgeline doesn't necessarily make the terrain any safer and triggering even a small slide this time of year will reveal stumps, rocks, and general nastiness, easily ruining your day or perhaps your season.

Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
Extreme
Learn how to read the forecast here
Special Announcements

The next advisory update will be Friday, November 25th. In the meantime, while you're waiting for snow to stack up, please let us know what you're seeing. You can reach me at [email protected] or 801-231-2170.

Also, before life gets crazy busy, consider scheduling one of our free avalanche awareness presentations (contact me at [email protected]) or sign up for our ever-popular, sled specific Avy Awareness and Riding Skills Workshop. (Click here for more details)

Whole foods event:

Between now and Jan 15th: Donate to the Utah Avalanche Center by shopping at Whole Foods Market Utah! when you visit Whole Foods Market Trolley Square, Sugarhouse & Cottonwood Heights locations and bring in your re-usable bags, Whole Foods will donate a dime per bag to Utah Avalanche Center when the cashier asks if you want to “keep or donate” your bag credit and you say “DONATE".

Weather and Snow

Wow... what a nice little storm for the eastern front with a pretty uniform 6 in. snow and .70 H20 stacking up across the range. Yesterday's ripping southwest winds switched to the west and then finally northwest with the arrival of last nights cold front right around dinnertime. Currently temperatures are in the low teens and northwest winds are blowing 20-30 mph along the high peaks. Things are slowly filling in, but in general it's still super shallow and there's just barely enough snow to recreate on.

Ted was out and about Tuesday and submitted his trip report along with a nice video overview of current conditions... found here.

Real time wind, snow, and temperatures for the Uinta's are found here.


It's starting to fill in, but still pretty boney, even on the high elevation slopes near Bald Mountain Pass. Ted Scroggin photo.

Recent Avalanches

No new avalanche activity to report.

Ad
Avalanche Problem #1
Wind Drifted Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description

Wind is always the game changer on the eastern front and yesterday's storm was no different. Southwest winds howled along the high ridges, finding just enough snow to blow around and create pockety wind drifts along the leeward side of upper elevation ridges. Problem today is... those same drifts are now covered over with last nights storm snow, making them harder to detect. It's not a widespread issue and generally isolated to steep, upper elevation, wind drifted terrain, especially slopes facing the north half of the compass. Today, you'll want to avoid any fat looking piece of snow, especially if it feels or sounds hollow like a drum.

Ted found a few isolated slabs along the high ridgelines near Bald Mountain Pass yesterday. Ted Scroggin photo.

Shallow snowpack, but not much weak sugary snow near the ground. Ted Scroggin photo.

Additional Information

Skies are clearing and it's going to be a beautiful day in the mountains with highs reaching into the low 30's and overnight lows dipping into the teens. Northwest winds blow in the 30's and 40's, before mellowing out later today and switching to the southwest. Dry and warming for Friday and Saturday and then the next round of active weather develops Saturday night, continuing through the first half of next week.

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]

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 on Friday November 25th.

Next forecast >