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Forecast for the Uintas Area Mountains

Craig Gordon
Issued by Craig Gordon for
Saturday, February 10, 2018

The avalanche hazard is generally LOW. However avalanches breaking to our midpack facet/crust combo remain possible in isolated terrain. Most experienced riders I know, continue to avoid bulls-eye avalanche terrain... steep slopes facing north half of the compass, especially those in the wind zone.

Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
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Weather and Snow

High clouds streamed into the region overnight and temperatures are in the low to mid 20's. Northwest winds increased midday Thursday and have been blowing 30-50 mph for the past day and a half. Riding and turning conditions are hit or miss. South facing slopes have taken on heat and are crusted. On the other side of the compass, our big open, north facing bowls sustained some wind damge, However, you can still find soft settled snow on mid elevation, wind sheltered slopes.

Above are 24 hour temperatures and snow depth from Trial Lake along with winds and temperatures from Windy Peak. More remote Uinta weather stations are found here

We were in Upper Chalk Creek yesterday and found mostly stable snow and a mixed bag of snow conditions. Above, Andy skins in a sea of silky, sustrugi. More on our travels along with a great body of recent trip reports, observations, and snow data are found here.


Recent Avalanches

No significant new avalanche activity to report.

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Avalanche Problem #1
Persistent Weak Layer
Type
Location
Likelihood
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Description

As the snowpack gets comfortable in its own skin, the possibilty of triggering an avalanche that breaks to our persistent midpack weakness, the Thanksgiving crust/facet combo, begins to decrease... and that's good news, suggesting we're trending in the right direction. I wouldn't exactly call it a "green light, ride if it's white" kind of snowpack, but I do think you'd really have to go out of your way to trigger an avalanche today. The most likely type of terrain is steep, upper elevation slopes, especially those facing the north half of the compass. While more the execption than the rule, once triggered, an avalanche breaking near our midpack problem child will quickly get out of hand and could instantly ruin our day. Fortunately, the riding conditions are improving on other aspects and we have more options on the table to avoid this avalanche dragon. Simply swing around to lower elevation slopes or choose low angle terrain with no steep slopes above or adjacent to where you're riding.

Additional Information

Expect mostly cloudy skies and cooling temperatures as a cold front slides through the region this morning, producing a dusting of snow. Drier air quickly spreads into the area later this afternoon and any lingering snow comes to an end. High temperatures don't vary much from where we're at and overnight lows crash to near zero degrees. Northwest winds gust into the 50's along the high ridges this morning, then gradually diminish later this afternoon and overnight.

General Announcements

The information in this advisory expires 24 hours after the date and time posted, but will be updated by 7:00 AM Sunday February 11th, 2018.

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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