Avalanche Warning
THE FOREST SERVICE UTAH AVALANCHE CENTER IN SALT LAKE CITY HAS ISSUED A BACKCOUNTRY AVALANCHE WARNING.
* TIMING...IN EFFECT THROUGH 6AM WEDNESDAY.
* AFFECTED AREA...FOR THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTHERN UTAH INCLUDING THE WASATCH RANGE...BEAR RIVER RANGE...THE MOUNTAINS OF SOUTHEAST IDAHO... AND THE WESTERN UINTAS
* AVALANCHE DANGER...HIGH.
* REASON/IMPACTS...HEAVY DENSE SNOW COMBINED WITH STRONG WINDS HAS CREATED WIDESPREAD AREAS OF UNSTABLE SNOW AT ALL ELEVATIONS INCLUDING LOW ELEVATION TERRAIN. BOTH HUMAN TRIGGERED AND NATURAL AVALANCHES ARE LIKELY. STAY OFF OF AND OUT FROM UNDER SLOPES STEEPER THAN 30 DEGREES.
Wednesday- January 25th 6:00 PM. I'll be giving a FREE avalanche awareness presentation at Cycle City in Evanston. I'll address sled specific avalanche concerns as well as current conditions. To reserve a seat, please RSVP at 307- 789-7533... operators are standing by :)
The recent parade of overachieving storms marched into the western Uinta's early yesterday morning, quickly stacking up and evenly distributed two feet of medium density snow across the range. Under mostly cloudy skies, a flurry or two is still in the air and temperatures are in the teens and single digits. Winds finally relaxed last night, switched to the west and northwest and are currently blowing 15-25 mph along the high ridges. Our big open bowls have taken a hard hit from the wind, but you'll find excellent riding and turning conditions on low elevation, wind sheltered, shady slopes.
Snowpack observations and trip reports are found here.
On the left a 24 hour run of the Windy Peak weather station. On the right, Trial Lake reflecting just over 2' of snow and 2.2" of H20!
Real time wind, snow, and temperatures for the Uinta's are found here
Very sensitive slabs formed at all elevations and they were reactive to the additional weight of a person, breaking several feet deep yesterday. A full list of Uinta avalanche activity is found here. (Boyer photo)