UDOT PLANNED AVALANCHE CLOSURES!!

Forecast for the Uintas Area Mountains

Craig Gordon
Issued by Craig Gordon for
Thursday, November 26, 2015

At and above treeline, the avalanche danger is MODERATE and human triggered avalanches are possible, especially on steep, wind drifted slopes facing the north half of the compass.

Wind sheltered terrain at mid and low elevations offers a LOW avalanche danger.

Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
Extreme
Learn how to read the forecast here
Weather and Snow

Yesterday's winds were punishing along the high ridges, but they finally relaxed around midnight as the cold front slid through the area. In its wake, temperatures crashed into the single digits and storm delivered a good shot of moisture to the region, depositing an evenly distributed 6" of medium density snow across the range. It's still pretty shallow out there and riding options are limited to road rides or low angle grassy meadows.

Our western Uinta weather station network is up and running. Click here for real time snow,winds, and temperatures.

Dan Gardiner was hiking around the Duchesne Ridge earlier in the week and submitted these pictures which illustrate the need for more snow.

Recent trip reports and observations are found here.

Recent Avalanches

No recent avalanche activity to report, but we are posting observations from the backcountry on a daily basis now. See or trigger an avalanche? Shooting cracks? Hear a collapse? It's simple. Go here to fill out an observation.

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

It was a wild day along the high ridges yesterday and the dense storm snow was no match for the raging southerly winds... kinda like watching a replay of the Rousey/Holm smackdown. Fresh wind drifts rapidly formed along the leeward side of upper elevation ridges and around terrain features like chutes and gullies, and it was easy to initiate small avalanches on road banks and test slopes. The good news is, I suspect things calmed down overnight and the drifts won't be quite as sensitive today. The bad news... once triggered, even a shallow slide can take you for a nasty ride through rocks and stumps barely hidden under our shallow snowpack.

It's a shallow snowpack for sure, but thankfully there's a little bit of body or structure this year... it's not just a weak sugary mess like we've seen in previous years.

Additional Information

Today we can expect on and off snow showers, temperatures rising into the low teens, with east and southeast winds blowing in the 10-20 mph range along the high peaks. Overnight lows will be near zero. As the main storm system meanders through the state, we can expect scattered snow showers and continued cold temperatures. It looks like a slow warming trend is on tap for next week with no big storms in sight.

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]. 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 be will be updated by 7:00 AM on Friday November 27th.