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Forecast for the Uintas Area Mountains

Craig Gordon
Issued by Craig Gordon on
Monday morning, January 18, 2021
Today you'll find MODERATE avalanche danger near and above treeline on slopes facing northwest through southeast. Ironically, these slopes have the best coverage and the most snow. Human triggered avalanches are POSSIBLE, especially on slopes loaded by recent winds. Any slide triggered may break into old, weak, faceted snow, creating a larger avalanche than you might expect.
All other slopes at mid and low elevations and those facing west and south offer minimal snow cover and generally LOW avalanche danger.
The best places to ride are shaded slopes near treeline with the deepest snow. But you'll need to put some thought into it... avoid slopes with fresh drifts and terrain steeper than 30 degrees and you'll avoid avalanches.
Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
Extreme
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Special Announcements
Discount lift tickets are available thanks to the generous support of our local resorts, Ski Utah, and Backcountry. Support the UAC while you ski at the resorts this season. Tickets are available here.
Weather and Snow
Nowcast-
High clouds stream into the region early this morning and temperatures register in the teens and low 20's across the board. West and northwest winds blew in the 30's and 40's overnight, took a short break right around midnight and just recently bumped in the mid 20's as I type this forecast at 03:00. The snow surface has taken a hard hit and riding and turning conditions are a bit underwhelming, but of course, any day in the mountains is better than a day in the office :)
Forecast-
A weak and generally dry cold front slides into the Uinta's later this morning, bringing a few snow flurries and increasing winds, gusting into the 40's along the high ridges. Temperatures climb into the mid 20's and dip into the single digits overnight.
Futurecast-
A storm diving into the four corners sets us up for east winds to increase tonight, nuking the ridges with gusts in the 60's. Not much going on midweek, but I'm cautiously optimistic a storm on Friday and Saturday begins a welcome pattern change.
Wavy Gravy... we caught a spectacular display of nature whilst rolling into Weber Canyon yesterday morning.
Looking for real-time temps, snow, or wind?
Click here and then on the "western Uinta" tab for western Uinta specific, weather station network.
Recent Avalanches
Yesterday, a sled triggered pocket was reported near Slater Ridge and the rider said... "Slide was remote triggered while riding along the ridge. Crown was about 30' away from the snowmobile track. The slide traveled down through some steep tree lined chutes. Slope angle about 40 degrees.
On Friday, Ted found a moose triggered slab, in the Gold Hill zone and has a great write up found here.
Read other trip reports here.
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Avalanche Problem #1
Persistent Weak Layer
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
The most likely places to trigger an avalanche are on slopes facing the north half of the compass, particularly east facing slopes, loaded by recent winds. In terrain with these characteristics, avalanches may break 1-2 feet deep, failing on a persistent weak layer of facets generally found about a foot above the ground.
Common characteristics (1) The snowpack is generally weak, rotten, and full of facets. Even the snow surface has faceted which made for acceptable skiing conditions. (2) Strong, west and northwest winds blew last week, forming hit-or-miss wind slabs on top of this weak, sugary mess.
What does all of this mean? Below treeline, the snowpack is basically one big persistent weak layer lacking a slab on top to create an avalanche. Near treeline snow depths increase some, and there is more of a slab on top of the weak snow, but they aren't nearly as sensitive as they were last week.
Photo - north aspect near 10k feet. Snow layers near the shovel blade is snow that fell in November and early December. The weakest snow is the obvious stripe of facets near the top edge of the shovel blade. That stripe of weak snow sits on a decomposing crust. Snow near the shovel handle is the slab that can create an avalanche. Slopes with the added weight of wind drifted snow on top of this layering are the ones most likely to avalanche.
Ted was out Friday and says.... "It felt like the theme of the day was cracking and collapsing of the weak snowpack and some of the collapses were quite attention getting. I was not anticipating too many red flags today, but the Gold Hill zone felt fairly unstable and a little on the "spooky" moderate side of the danger scale." Some sage advice from a super knowledgeable avy, savvy pro who knows the Uinta's better than all of us.... combined!
Avalanche Problem #2
Wind Drifted Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
While not widespread, a few tired old wind drifts are found on steep leeward slopes in the wind zone and they may react to our additional weight. Today you'll want to look for and avoid fat, rounded pieces of snow, especially if they sound or feel hollow like a drum.
There are two types of wind loading patterns to look for - top loading and cross loading as shown in the two images below.
Additional Information
I will update this forecast by 7:00 AM tomorrow, Tuesday January 19th.
Your observations are import, so please let me know what you're seeing... click HERE and contribute to this amazing community based program
General Announcements
If you see or trigger an avalanche or just wanna let me know what you're seeing you can reach me directly at 801-231-2170 or [email protected]
This forecast is from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This forecast describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.
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