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Forecast for the Uintas Area Mountains

Craig Gordon
Issued by Craig Gordon on
Wednesday morning, December 21, 2022
Odds of triggering a deep, dangerous avalanche have decreased... consequences remain serious-
Today, you'll find MODERATE avalanche danger on all steep, upper elevation, shady slopes. The danger is most pronounced in terrain facing the north half of the compass, particularly on slopes with an easterly component to their aspect, in the wind zone at and above treeline. Human triggered avalanches breaking to weak, sugary, midpack snow are POSSIBLE.
Looking for the Clif-notes, fast-track version to LOW avalanche danger? Mid and low elevation wind sheltered terrain and slopes facing the south half of the compass with no overhead hazard (meaning, no steep slopes above or adjacent to where I'm traveling) is the hot ticket. I've been finding excellent riding conditions and fun meadow skipping on mellow terrain with these characteristics.
Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
Extreme
Learn how to read the forecast here
Special Announcements
As the end of the year approaches, please consider a donation to the UAC to support avalanche forecasting.
Weather and Snow
Nowcast- It's only fitting that an Arctic Airmass slides through the region on Winter Solstice, bringing a shot of snow later today along with very cold air. In the meantime, temperatures register in the low and mid teens and west-southwest winds blow 25-35 mph along the ridges. Riding and turning conditions are most excellent, though recent winds are gonna work the big open bowls. But don't let your heart be troubled... on a solid, go anywhere base, we've got room to roam and you'll find excellent riding conditions, particularly in mid elevation, wind sheltered terrain.
Forecast- Snow develops later this morning and should begin to increase in intensity with 4"-8" by about mid afternoon. West and then northwest winds become unruly as the day wares on, blowing in the 40's and 50's along the high ridges, gusting to 100 mph near the high peaks. The bottom falls out of our comfortable morning temperatures, cratering to -10 degrees overnight.
Futurecast- A few snow showers linger into Thursday morning, but the bigger news are the temperatures which barely claw their way out of the single digits. Northwest winds add insult to injury, bringing windchill factors to -25 degrees.
Lots of excellent trip reports and recent obs are found HERE.
Recent Avalanches
No recent avy activity since Tyler St. Jeor found this slide Sunday in Roundy Basin, just above the groomed trail on his way to Currant Creek.
From the North Slope to the south half of the range and points in between, recent human triggered avalanches display similar characteristics, revealing a failure in the midpack weakness which leads to avalanches gouging to the ground.
Recent avy activity and a slew of Uinta obs are HERE.
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Avalanche Problem #1
Persistent Weak Layer
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
Two ways to view snow layering, but both suggest a general trend towards equalibrium.
The good news-
The midpack weak layer is adjusting to last weeks big storm, becoming happy in its own skin, and recent avalanche activity or lack thereof, reflects this trend.
The step out with cautious optimism news-
The most likely place to trigger an avalanche is where a dense, strong, solid layer (slab) rests on weaker snow (Persistent Weak Layer or PWL) formed during the mid November dry-spell. That combo is found on slopes facing the north half of the compass, especially those in the wind zone at and above treeline. So, by avoiding this setup, you essentially avoid avalanches!
The flake news-
I wanna know where I can ride, have an epic day, and NOT trigger an avalanche. And actually that's an easy one. Travel is straight-forward on a very supportable base and low angle terrain rides like a dream! With no shortage of great riding in big open meadows and on lower angle slopes, there's plenty of opportunity to avoid pulling on the avalanches dragons tail all together.
Avalanche Problem #2
Wind Drifted Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
Above is a 24 hour data dump from Windy Peak (10,662')
For this morning, there's not an abundance of snow available to blow around, just enough to form shallow, stiff drifts along the leeward side of ridges and around terrain features like chutes and gullies.
With snow and strong winds on the way, fresh drifts become more widespread and sensitive as the day and the storm evolves. In either case, today you'll wanna key in on and avoid any fat looking rounded pillow of snow, especially if it sounds hollow like a drum.
Additional Information
State of the snowpack prezo Thursday Dec. 22nd-
When-
Thursday December 22, 2022
Show starts at 6:00
What-
Please join Utah Avalanche Center forecaster Craig Gordon (that's me :) as I take a deep dive and reflect on recent close calls along with what’s going on with our current snowpack structure and what's in the store for the future.

Where-
Alpha Coffee
7260 Racquet Club Dr, Cottonwood Heights, UT 84121
Weather stations-
And... we were super busy this summer upgrading the western Uinta weather station network and this real-time winter info is found HERE (click weather stations, and then on the Western Uinta tab)
Observations-
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
Issued at 03:42 on Wednesday December 21st, this forecast expires 24 hours after the date and time posted, but will be updated by 07:00 Thursday December 22nd.
Before it gets too crazy, now is the time to book an avalanche awareness presentation for your group, club, or posse. You can reach Craig 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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