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Forecast for the Uintas Area Mountains

Craig Gordon
Issued by Craig Gordon on
Tuesday morning, January 19, 2021
Today you'll find MODERATE avalanche danger near and above treeline, particularly 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 weak, sugary, faceted snow, creating a larger avalanche than you might expect.
All other slopes at mid and low elevations 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-
We were able to squeak an inch of snow out of yesterday's storm, but skies cleared overnight and temperatures cratered into the teens and single digits early this morning. The big news are the snow wrecking east-northeast winds which ramped up late last night and currently blow in the upper 40's along the high ridges. Needless to say... the snow surface has taken a hard hit and I bet most of our big upper elevation alpine terrain resembles a lunar landscape. And while riding and turning conditions are a bit underwhelming, any day in the mountains is better than a day in the office :)
Forecast-
Sunny skies prevail and winds decrease throughout the day. High temperatures climb into the upper 20's with overnight lows dipping into the teens.
Futurecast-
Dry and warming through Thursday with a good looking storm materializing for late in the week through the weekend. Details are getting sorted through and I'll have a better handle on timing and strength, but right now the storm looks encouraging.
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
On Sunday, 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.
Last 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.
A rip around Mill Hollow late last week is illustrated in the viddy above.
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Avalanche Problem #1
Persistent Weak Layer
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
The most likely places to trigger a slide today are on upper elevation slopes facing the north half of the compass where avalanches may break up to 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. (2) Strong winds have blown from nearly every direction, 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.
Today you'll want to look for signs of unstable snow like cracks shooting out in front of you, sudden collapses of the snowpack, or loud whoomphing sounds.
Avalanche Problem #2
Wind Drifted Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
Unusual conditions make unusual avalanches- last nights atypical east-northeast winds found what little snow there is available for transport, forming stiff wind slabs on the leeward side of upper elevation ridges. Remember that strong winds create slabs in odd locations, so I'd also be on the lookout for fat, rounded pieces of snow around terrain features like chutes and gullies. In either case, you'll want to avoid today's fresh drifts which will look like small humpbacks lurking in our mountains and may sound 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, Wednesday January 20th.
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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