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Forecast for the Uintas Area Mountains

Craig Gordon
Issued by Craig Gordon for
Friday, March 22, 2019
The avalanche danger is generally LOW this morning and both human triggered and natural avalanches are unlikely. With additional snow and wind on tap today, the danger in the wind zone may rise to MODERATE by late in the day. While not widespread and depending on the storms arrival, fresh wind drifts could become sensitive to our additional weight by days end.
Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
Extreme
Learn how to read the forecast here
Weather and Snow
Skies are mostly cloudy, temperatures in the teens, and southeast winds blow in the low 20's along the high ridges. Just and inch or two of snow materialized from yesterday's underperforming storm, but unsettled weather and a few scattered snow showers throughout the day may add a couple more inches of snow, helping to cushion the old snow surface.
Above is hourly data from Trial Lake (9,945') and Windy Peak (10,662'). To view more regional weather stations click here.
John Mletschnig was in the Millcreek zone Tuesday and found stunning views, and not surprising, a slightly weaker snowpack than in some of our deeper areas found in the central core of the range. More on John's travels found here.
Recent Avalanches
Dave Kikkert was near Moffit Peak Wednesday and was able to trigger shallow sluffs in steep sustained terrain. More on Dave's travels here.
Occurring naturally, a piece of cornice peeled off this ridgeline in upper Weber Canyon sometime late Sunday afternoon. The bus sized piece of snow crashed onto the slope below, triggering a shallow wet slab which gouged into weak snow near the ground. Of note... a repeater, the snowpack was already shallow in this zone from an avalanche triggered earlier this year.
Recent trip reports and avy activity found HERE.
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Avalanche Problem #1
Wind Drifted Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
A couple things to keep in mind during your travels today-
While mostly manageable in size, a large loose snow sluff in steep, technical, north facing terrain could knock you off your skis, board, or sled and take you for an unexpected ride. As the storm develops, look for an avoid fresh wind drifts along the leeward side of upper elevation ridges.
And finally don't forget-
Cornices are ginormous and may break back further than you might expect. You definitely wanna give these large, unpredictable pieces of snow a wide berth and not ruin someones day below by inadvertently knocking a boxcar size piece of snow down on them.
Additional Information
A few inches o' snow stack up later today and tonight with a break in the action slated for Saturday morning. It'll be breezy along the ridges today with southwest winds blowing in the 30's. Temperatures climb into the mid 30's before dipping into 20's overnight. Another similar storm system is on tap for Saturday night into Sunday, with tranquil weather for the start of the work week.
General Announcements
The information in this advisory expires 24 hours after the date and time posted, but will be updated by 7:00 AM Saturday March 23rd, 2019.
If you're getting out and about, please let me know what you're seeing especially if you see or trigger and avalanche. I can be reached at [email protected] or 801-231-2170
It's also a good time to set up one of our very popular avalanche awareness classes. Reach out to me and I'll make it happen.
This information does not apply to developed ski areas or highways where avalanche control is normally done. This advisory is from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.
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