We are very proud to introduce our new website for the 2018-19 winter season. This will provide an easier and cleaner way to view all of the snow and avalanche information that you've come to rely on. We are quite happy with how the new website performs on mobile devices as well. We think you'll find the desktop or laptop experience pleasant as well. We are still tying up some loose ends so bear with us.
Under mostly cloudy skies, a few light snow showers developed overnight and temperatures remained mild, currently hovering right around freezing. West and southwest winds blow 15-25 mph along the high peaks. Today we can expect high temperatures in the mid and upper 30's with a few inches of snow stacking up. Along the high ridges, west and southwest winds will bump into the 40's before decreasing later this afternoon. An active weather pattern is slated for the remainder of the week
While the big holiday storm delivered over two feet of much needed snow with about 2" of water, overall snow depths are still pretty lean and average close to 20" across the range.
We are working to get the Uinta weather network back online. In the meantime, above is 24 hour data from Trail Lake (9945') and Windy Peak (10,662') winds until 6:00 pm last night.
Images above are prior to the big Thanksgiving storm, giving you a sense of the type of terrain where today's avalanche dragon lives. While the storm turned much of our landscape white, riding and turning options are still limited. Low angle, rock free grassy slopes, meadow skipping, or road rides are gonna be your best bet today.
Wanna avoid avalanche danger today? Of course you do and it's easy. Simply steer clear of any mid or upper elevation slope that has pre-existing, early season snow.
Your exit strategy is to swing around to south facing slopes or lower elevation terrain which had no old snow prior to the big storm and you can ride without the worry of avalanches breaking to weak snow near the ground.
Backcountry riders still report collapsing, loud booming whoomphs, and shooting cracks like in Michael J's image above... all signs of unstable snow.