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Forecast for the Uintas Area Mountains

Craig Gordon
Issued by Craig Gordon on
Friday morning, March 26, 2021
Straight-forward and limited to steep, leeward terrain in the wind zone above treeline, today you'll find MODERATE avalanche danger. Human triggered avalanches are POSSIBLE on wind drifted slopes, especially those facing the north half of the compass in high alpine terrain.
And here's something to consider... if you're getting into steep, technical terrain, even a small slide can knock you off your ride, potentially slam you into a tree, and deliver a season ending injury... or worse.
Lose some elevation and you lose most of the problem. Mid and low elevation wind sheltered terrain offers generally LOW avalanche danger.
Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
Extreme
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Weather and Snow
Nowcast-
Under the cloak of thick clouds a good shot of snow developed overnight, delivering an evenly distributed 4" of medium density snow across the range. Temperatures register in the mid teens and there's hardly a breath of wind, even along the high peaks. Riding and turning conditions are quite good and it's rare we get a storm with hardly any wind... get out and get after it!
Forecast-
Look for mostly cloudy skies this morning with light snow continuing through the day and another couple inches expected to stack up, especially on the south half of the range. Winds switch to the west and northwest and bump into the 20's later today. High temperatures climb into the upper 20's and under clear skies tonight, dip into the teens.
Futurecast-
Sunny, dry, and warming this weekend.
Looking for real-time temps, snow, or wind?
Click HERE and then on the "western Uinta" tab for western Uinta specific, weather station network.
Recent Avalanches
A few shallow wind drifts were triggered on steep, leeward terrain in the wind zone yesterday, otherwise no significant avalanche activity to report.

Observations, trip reports, and avalanches found here.
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Avalanche Problem #1
Wind Drifted Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
Nothing too alarming, but we did see an uptick in southerly winds yesterday along the high peaks. Above is a 24 hour data dump from Windy Peak (10,662').
While fresh snow camouflages yesterday's wind drifts, making them harder to detect, today's avalanche problems are mostly straight-forward, easy to manage, and limited to steep, leeward terrain in the wind zone. Simply look for and steer clear of fat, rounded pillows of snow, especially if they sound or feel hollow like a drum. And you don't have to ride blind... tweak small test slopes like road cuts to see how they're reacting before tagging big terrain or committing to pre-planned objectives.
Additional Information
The big melt down is in full swing, and you've gotta deal with a little Boney-Moroney in order to meet up with Turney-McGurney :)
I will update this forecast by 7:00 AM tomorrow, Saturday, March 27th.
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General Announcements
If you see or trigger an avalanche or just wanna let me know what you're seeing you can reach me 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.