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Forecast for the Uintas Area Mountains

Mark Staples
Issued by Mark Staples for
Friday, January 28, 2022
Today the avalanche danger is LOW on all aspects and elevations.
Although avalanches are unlikely, there is always some chance of triggering a slide which is why we always carry avalanche rescue gear. Consider a quick (5 minutes) practice run with your avalanche transceiver at one of the training sites at Bear River or Nobletts trail heads.
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Weather and Snow
NOWCAST-
Winds from the north increased last night and are blowing 25 mph gusting to 30 mph at upper elevations this morning. At lower ridgelines they are blowing 2-5 mph with gusts 17 mph. Temperatures are inverted with valley temperatures in the single digits F while mountain temperatures are in the mid teens F. Strawberry Reservoir bottomed out with a temp of -15 degrees F and Bear River dropped to -7 degrees F.
FORECAST-
Today will be clear and sunny with high temperatures around 25 degrees F. Winds will ease today and remain light through the weekend.
FUTURECAST-
There could be a dusting of snow in the middle of next week but no significant snowfall is on the horizon yet. Fingers crossed.
There isn't deep powder, but there is still some soft snow on sheltered north-facing terrain. The combination of loose, weak, faceted snow plus several inches of new snow from Monday has kept the snow soft. Below is a photo from a northwest facing slope near Soapstone yesterday. More info on how this will be a future problem in the discussion below.
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
Other than a few very small, dry, sluffs; there has been no avalanche activity.
Click HERE for a list of recent avalanches.
A list of all other observations is found HERE
Your input is vital and we're interested in what you're seeing. Please contribute to this great community resource and go here to fill out an observation.
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Avalanche Problem #1
Normal Caution
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
The main thing to watch for today would be isolated and small pockets of wind drifted snow at upper elevations that could release today from recent winds blowing from the west and north.
Make sure to (1) evaluate each slope in an individual basis, and (2) consider the consequences of triggering a small slide, ie - where will it take you?
Looking in the future - the snow surface has been getting whiplash from bitter cold temperatures at night and warm temperatures during the day. The result is that many slopes have very weak, faceted snow near the top. This weak snow was capped by Monday's few inches of snow. I found it yesterday in Soapstone (photo below of buried surface hoar) and Craig found in along the Chalk Creek ridgeline on Wednesday (video below). For now the new snow just caps and preserves this weak layer. It won't be an avalanche problem until more snow comes.
Additional Information
While we're waiting patiently for winter to return from its hiatus, take a few minutes and visit one of our beacon parks and test your rescue skills. Ted installed a Beacon Basin at the Bear River Trailhead and there's another park found at the northeast corner of the Nobletts Trailhead.
Your observations are important, so please let me know what you're seeing... click HERE and contribute to this amazing community based program
General Announcements
The information in this forecast expires 24 hours after the day and time posted, but will be updated by 07:00 Friday January 28th.
Before it gets too crazy, now is the time to book an avalanche awareness presentation for your group, club, or posse. 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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