UDOT PLANNED AVALANCHE CLOSURES!!

Forecast for the Uintas Area Mountains

Mark Staples
Issued by Mark Staples on
Sunday morning, March 24, 2024
The snowpack is deep and strong, and last night's new snow will go a long way in improving riding conditions, especially on high north facing slopes. The avalanche situation is pretty simple, but these slopes with the best snow will be the ones where winds from both the south and then the north likely formed some shallow soft slabs of wind drifted snow to watch for.
For today the avalanche danger is MODERATE above treeline where there's a greater chance of triggering one of these wind slabs. Near and below treeline, the danger is LOW.
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Weather and Snow
Overnight, 4-5 inches of snow (0.4-0.5" water) fell evenly across the Uintas just after the cold front passed when winds eased and started blowing from the north.
This morning temperatures range from 14 to 23 degrees F. Winds from the north are blowing 10-15 mph.
Today will stay cloudy and the combination of daytime heating and atmospheric instability will lead to more snow showers and classic unsettled spring weather. 1-2 inches of snow should fall. Temperatures should climb into the mid 20s F and winds from the north may pick up a little late in day.
Looking ahead - unsettled weather may bring another inch or two of snow tonight, Monday, and Tuesday. Brief ridging will bring sunshine on Wednesday, but another big trough of low pressure over the western U.S. will bring back snowfall potentially from Thursday through next weekend. It's still too early to say how much snow will fall, but fingers crossed!
After recent warm, sunny weather, the snow is icy on most slopes. High north-facing slopes have some old recycled powder and a soft ice crust. With last night's 4-5 inches, these high north-facing slopes should have decent riding conditions today. I snapped the photo below from the north side of Iron Mine Mountain just south of the Mirror Lake Highway.
Recent Avalanches
No significant avalanche activity to report.

For all Uinta observations and archived avalanche activity click HERE.
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Avalanche Problem #1
Wind Drifted Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
Last night's 4-5 inches of new snow has likely been drifted by winds into some shallow soft slabs that you could trigger. Looking at the timing of snowfall, it appears most of it fell after winds eased and began blowing from the north, but yesterday's strong south winds likely found a little snow to move as well.
SO - mainly watch for fresh wind slabs on a variety of aspects above treeline.
Additional Information
The Uinta weather station network was upgraded this summer and all that real-time info is found HERE. Simply click on "western Uinta" tab and then "weather stations" tab.

We are always looking for snow and avalanche observations or just general riding conditions. So... if you see something, say something. You can reach me directly at [email protected] or 801-231-2170.
Also, if you're looking for more avy education opportunities for yourself, your crew, or your club please don't hesitate to reach out to me and we'll find a presentation, class, or clinic for ya!
General Announcements

Issued 0700 on Sunday, March 24th this forecast will be updated by 0700 Monday, March 25th, 2024.
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.