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Forecast for the Uintas Area Mountains

Mark Staples
Issued by Mark Staples on
Saturday morning, January 30, 2021
Don't let the fresh snow and sunshine fool you. The snowpack is dangerous and human triggered avalanches are likely.
Near and above treeline today on slopes facing west, north, and east the avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE. Avalanches will break in the wind drifted snow or break deeper into older layers of faceted snow. You may not see natural avalanches but HUMAN TRIGGERED AVALANCHES ARE LIKELY. You can trigger avalanches by simply being under or near steep slopes.
All other terrain has a MODERATE avalanche danger. Very few slopes were unaffected by recent strong, southerly winds.
There is plenty of great terrain in the Uintas that is less than 30 degrees in steepness where avalanches generally don't happen as long as nothing steeper is above you.
Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
Extreme
Learn how to read the forecast here
Special Avalanche Bulletin
THE UTAH AVALANCHE CENTER HAS CONTINUED A SPECIAL AVALANCHE BULLETIN FROM 6 AM MST THIS MORNING TO 6 AM MST SUNDAY.
FOR THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTHERN UTAH INCLUDING THE WASATCH RANGE, THE BEAR RIVER RANGE, AND THE UINTA MOUNTAINS.
CONDITIONS ARE PERFECT FOR AVALANCHE ACCIDENTS IN THE BACKCOUNTRY THIS WEEKEND. DANGEROUS AVALANCHE CONDITIONS EXIST. AVALANCHES COULD BE LARGE, VERY DANGEROUS, UNEXPECTED, AND PERHAPS DEADLY.
Special Announcements
Thanks to the generous support of our local resorts, Ski Utah, and Backcountry, discount lift tickets are now available HERE. Support the UAC while you ski at the resorts this season.
Weather and Snow
Nowcast-
Overnight 3-5 inches of snow fell. Temperatures range from the low teens F to about 20 degrees F. Strong southerly winds blew yesterday but overnight shifted to the west and northwest. This morning at upper elevations they are averaging 5-15 mph with gusts up to 25 mph.
Forecast-
Cloudy skies will slowly dissipate and the sun should appear this afternoon. Winds will remain from the west and northwest but will steadily decrease. Temperatures should only warm into the mid teens to low 20s F.
Futurecast-
Sunday and Monday should be sunny followed by another storm starting late Tuesday evening through Wednesday.
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
There were three avalanches in the upper part of the Lake Creek drainage yesterday (slide1, slide2, slide3), all on wind loaded slopes facing north or northeast. One of these slides produce very large pieces of debris, photo below. Andy Nassetta and Joey Manship triggered an avalanche on a road cut about 50 feet wide and just over a foot deep.
(photos - M. Wiest)
On Thursday, a skier triggered a slide in upper Weber Canyon. What was significant is that the avalanche was triggered remotely, and it occurred on a 31 degree slope which is barely steep enough to slide. (photo D. Kikkert)
Click here to view recent trip reports and avalanche observations.
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Avalanche Problem #1
Persistent Weak Layer
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
The snowpack is teetering near its breaking point with multiple persistent weak layers of faceted snow (see photo below) under a slab of new snow and wind drifted snow. Southerly winds midweek made the situation worse by loading north facing slopes and cross loading east and west facing slopes. Mother Nature is screaming a warning to us with recent avalanches.
Most slopes are waiting for a trigger like a person or a falling cornice which will likely trigger an avalanche today. At upper elevations, above treeline, avalanches will be several feet deep or more in heavily wind loaded areas. Below treeline avalanches will be 1-2 feet deep.
HEADS UP - Upper elevations and big alpine bowls are obvious places for avalanches. What is tricky is that avalanches are also likely near and slightly below treeline where recent winds drifted snow.
Photo of a northeast facing slope near 10,000 feet. Riding conditions and coverage have improved greatly; however, you can still see the obvious layers of very weak snow.
In the video below, Andy describes the small avalanche they triggered and the snowpack layer that allowed them to trigger it.
Avalanche Problem #2
Wind Drifted Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
Very strong winds blew from the south and southeast midweek and drifted snow that fell last weekend. These slabs of wind drifted snow are bonding and becoming less of an avalanche problem by themselves.
  • THE PROBLEM is that these wind slabs are making it more likely for you to trigger a slide on buried persistent weak layers as described above.
  • THE OTHER PROBLEM is that snow last night will make it harder to see where these wind slabs exist.
Additional Information
Craig will update this forecast by 7:00 AM tomorrow, Sunday January 31th.
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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