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Forecast for the Uintas Area Mountains

Craig Gordon
Issued by Craig Gordon on
Sunday morning, December 16, 2012

Terrain to avoid- mid and upper elevation leeward slopes, especially those with an easterly component to their aspect. The avalanche danger will be rising to CONSIDERABLE on steep wind loaded slopes and human triggered avalanches will become probable as the day wares on.

LOW avalanche danger exists on wind sheltered slopes.

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High
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Learn how to read the forecast here
Avalanche Watch

An Avalanche Watch is in effect for the mountains of Northern and Central Utah, including the Western Uinta's. Strong winds and snow are creating dangerous avalanche conditions and both human triggered and natural avalanches are possible. New snow is overloading a pre-existing weak and very complex snowpack. The avalanche danger will continue to rise tonight and tomorrow to HIGH danger.
Weather and Snow

Skies are mostly cloudy and light snow continues to fall ahead of a series of storms slated to slam into the region through midweek. 3" of light density snow fell overnight, temperatures are in the mid teens, and west-southwest winds are blowing 15-30 mph along the high ridges. Riding and turning conditions are starting to come on and the best snow is found in wind sheltered terrain.

Recent snow and avalanche observations can be found here.

Wondering why last winter was so crazy? Click here to watch the 2011-12 Utah Winter Review... an excellent recap of last years conditions.

Recent Avalanches

Sluffing on steep slopes and shallow soft slabs are the theme throughout the range.

In addition, plenty of loud booming collapses are being reported, particularly in regions where the snowpack remains thin and shallow.

Yikes... Ted found this large natural in upper Weber Canyon, just west of Moffit Peak. Breaking to the ground on weak, shallow snow, looks like it released from the strong winds on 12-12-12.

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Avalanche Problem #1
Persistent Weak Layer
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description

Fresh wind drifts are the most obvious of today's avalanche problems. Easy to detect by their rounded appearance, they'll also be easy to manage this morning, breaking around or just below your skis, board, or sled. As winds increase I expect the drifting to become more widespread and slabs will break deeper and wider than you might anticipate. Once initiated, today's shallow slabs can quickly get out of hand, breaking into deeper buried weak layers as they crash down onto the slope below and they'll be packing a punch.

Avalanche Problem #2
New Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description

Less obvious and more difficult to manage are avalanches that break into weak snow now buried several feet deep in the snowpack. Granted, the snowpack structure is getting complicated and with a series of storms headed our way it's gonna get more tricky over the next few days. Rather than get caught up in the technical aspects, let's get back to basics. We're starting to see the in your face telltale signs coming together... booming collapses, shooting cracks, and avalanches are natures way of saying the snowpack is sketchy If you're getting onto steep, upper elevation slopes, especially those with an easterly component to their aspect, carefully assess the snowpack and think about the consequences of triggering a slide.

Click here to view our observations along with a short video explaining what we're seeing.

Ted points to our problem child... a layer of weak snow now buried a couple feet deep in our snowpack.

Additional Information

It's gonna be a wild couple of days in the mountains. West and southwest winds will average in the 20's and 30's, increasing throughout the day and will be screaming in the 60's and 70's overnight. Gusts to 100 mph aren't out of the question. 4"-6" of snow seems a good bet for today, and then snowfall starts in earnest tonight with an additional foot possible. A bit of a break Monday before it all ramps back up with a strong cold front swinging through the state Monday night and Tuesday with another foot of snow expected..

General Announcements

Remember your information can save lives. If you see anything we should know about, please participate in the creation of our own community avalanche advisory by submitting snow and avalanche conditions. You can call me directly at 801-231-2170, email [email protected], or email by clicking HERE

This is a great time of year to schedule a free avalanche awareness presentation for your group or club. You can contact me at 801-231-2170 or email [email protected]

Donate to your favorite non-profit –The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center. The UAC depends on contributions from users like you to support our work.

The information in this advisory is from the US Forest Service which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.

The information in this advisory expires 24 hours after the date and time posted, but will be updated by 7:00 AM Monday December 17th.

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