Avalanche Watch
What:
This Avalanche Watch is for rising avalanche danger, with very dangerous conditions continuing through the weekend and into next week.
Heavy snowfall and drifting by strong winds will elevate backcountry avalanche danger over the next several days. Very dangerous conditions and HIGH avalanche danger are expected to develop in many areas.
Where:
The Avalanche Watch is for the mountains of Northern and Central Utah as well as Southeastern Idaho, including the Wasatch Range, Bear River Range, and the western Uinta Mountains.
Impacts:
Very dangerous avalanche conditions are expected to develop on many slopes.
Avalanches can be triggered on slopes steeper than 30 degrees. They may also be triggered remotely (from a distance) or from below.
What to do:
Avoid traveling on or underneath steep terrain at mid and upper elevations in the backcountry.
Carry and know how to use avalanche rescue equipment.
Find safer riding conditions on slopes less than 30 degrees with no overhead hazard.
Nowcast- The Christmas storm dribbled in all day, turning into the little gift that kept giving, stacking up an evenly distributed 4" of snow with about .32" H2O. In other words, right in line with our typical storm snow density. A brief clearing early this morning allowed temperatures to dive into the mid teens, but clouds are already on the doorstep and should thicken right around sunrise. After a lull in the action yesterday afternoon, southerly winds began an uptick at the turn of the new day and currently blow 10-20 mph near the high peaks.
Forecast- Westerly winds ramp into the 30's along the high ridges, opening the door to the first in a series of storms rolling into the Uinta's early this morning. It's a quick hitter, but should deliver about 3"-5" of snow in short order. Expect mild temperatures climbing into the upper 20's. Overnight lows dip into the teens.
Futurecast- An active pattern is still on track with multiple waves of storminess to wrap up the work week. Look for a break in the action this afternoon with another shot of snow slated for tonight into early Friday. Strong winds and heavy snow develop late Friday into Saturday, a break for early Saturday, with yet another wave of moisture on tap for Saturday night into Sunday. We've got a good pattern developing and these storms should stack up solid snow and water totals... not Herculean, but respectable none-the-less. Fingers, toes, and eyes crossed :)
Our good friends and longtime partners at Slat Lake's National Weather Servive issued a
Winter Storm Warning for a good portion of Northern Utah which of course, includes the western Uinta's.
Travel & Riding Conditions-
A little snow goes a long way. Riding and turning conditions vastly improved with yesterdays shallow coat of fresh paint.
An avalanche accident in the Logan area mountains Tuesday, resulted in a complete burial, but fortunately, a quick thinking companion used his avalanche transceiver for the rescue, resulting in only minor injuries to the buried rider. The avalanche was 2 feet deep and 500 feet wide.
Closer to home, it's been nearly a week since we've seen or heard of any avalanche activity in the Uinta zone. But avalanches like in the Logan Zone, give us a peak under the hood into our snowpack's personality and what's to come once our weak layering is overloaded with dense, heavy snow or wind.
If you're looking for info, travel obs, and avalanches from the western Uinta range and from around the state, well then, you came to the right place... simply click
here!
