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Forecast for the Uintas Area Mountains

Craig Gordon
Issued by Craig Gordon for
Wednesday, January 23, 2013

At and above treeline pockets of MODERATE avalanche danger exist and human triggered avalanches are possible in steep terrain harboring both old and recent deposits of wind drifted snow.

LOW avalanche danger is found in most wind sheltered terrain.

Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
Extreme
Learn how to read the forecast here
Weather and Snow

Skies are mostly clear, west and southwest winds are blowing 15-25 mph along the high ridges, and temperatures are in the low 30's. A variety of snow surfaces await this morning. Breakable crust on the sunny slopes, wind board in the exposed terrain, and a weakening snowpack where depths remain shallow.. But wait... there's more! If you hunt around long enough you can still find patches of soft settled powder in mid elevation, wind sheltered terrain. It's definitely worth getting into the mountains where the sun is shining and the air is clear!

Bruce put together a great observation from Weber Canyon earlier this week. Click here to view.

Other observations can be found here.

Wondering why last winter was so crazy? Click here to watch the 2011-12 Utah Winter Review... an excellent recap of last years conditions.

Recent Avalanches

No new avalanche activity to report.

We investigated last Friday's very tragic avalanche accident. A report can be found here.

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Avalanche Problem #1
Persistent Weak Layer
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description

Winds have been all over the place since last Wednesday when they blew in the 60's and 70's along the high ridges. Nearly all of the hard, old wind slabs are tired and have little energy. I know... a little like me mid winter. But none-the-less, there may be a slab or two lurking along the high ridges that has enough punch to knock you off your skis, board, or sled and serve up an unexpected surprise. Fat looking, rounded pillows of snow that sound hollow like a drum should still be considered suspect.

Avalanche Problem #2
New Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description

The forecast wouldn't be complete without a mention of avalanches breaking into old snow near the ground. While you'd really have to go out of your way to trigger a deep, dangerous slide, should your travels take you into steep, wind loaded or complex terrain you're gonna need to carefully assess the snowpack. More importantly, think about the consequences of triggering an avalanche.

Additional Information

High pressure is shifting east allowing a southwest flow to develop, hopefully ushering in a change in the stagnant weather pattern. We should see increasing clouds and winds gusting into the 30's and 40's along the high peaks. Temperatures soar into the upper 30's before snow develops late tonight. Looks like just a couple inches for Thursday morning. A break in the weather for Friday, before another weak system slides into the region Friday night into Saturday. A more promising pattern may develop late in the weekend as a stronger cold front sweeps through the area. The models are still trying to figure this one out and I'll have more details for Saturday's update.

General Announcements

Remember your information can save lives. If you see anything we should know about, please participate in the creation of our own community avalanche advisory by submitting snow and avalanche conditions. You can call me directly at 801-231-2170, email [email protected], or email by clicking HERE

This is a great time of year to schedule a free avalanche awareness presentation for your group or club. You can contact me at 801-231-2170 or email [email protected]

Donate to your favorite non-profit –The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center. The UAC depends on contributions from users like you to support our work.

The information in this advisory is from the US Forest Service which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.

The information in this advisory expires 24 hours after the date and time posted, but will be updated by 7:00 AM Saturday January 26th.

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