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Forecast for the Uintas Area Mountains

Craig Gordon
Issued by Craig Gordon on
Tuesday morning, March 23, 2021
In the wind zone, at and above treeline you'll find MODERATE avalanche danger and human triggered avalanches are POSSIBLE, especially on steep, wind drifted, leeward slopes facing the north half of the compass.
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
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High
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Weather and Snow
Nowcast-
A weak system brushed by the area overnight, producing mostly cloudy skies and delivering an inch of snow. Current temperatures register in the single digits and low teens, while northeast winds clock in at 15-25 mph along the high peaks. On a go anywhere base, riding and turning conditions are about as good as they get.
Forecast-
Look for scattered snow showers over the region again today, but unfortunately our storm takes a more southwesterly path which reduces snow amounts to just a couple traces and bumps northeast winds into the 30's and 40's along the high peaks. High temperatures only climb into the 20's and overnight lows dip into the teens.
Futurecast-
A sunny day is on tap for Wednesday with the next system bringing accumulating snow to the area Thursday into Friday.
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
Michael Davis was in the Gold Hill zone yesterday and caught sight of these two slides. The top image is fairly recent and perhaps triggered earlier in the day. While small and pockety, the main take home is it broke to weak snow near the ground and could definitely ruin your day if it slammed you into a tree. The second image is of an older, more connected slide, which I think is a repeater and illustrates similar properties. For more on Michaels travels and a most excellent trip report click HERE.

Observations, trip reports, and avalanches found here.
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Avalanche Problem #1
Wind Drifted Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
While more the exception than the rule, there may be a lingering wind drift or two that remains sensitive to our additional weight today. And while most of our issues are confined to steep, leeward, upper elevation terrain, don't forget about Saturday's strong winds which cross-loaded terrain features like chutes and gullies. That's all pretty straight-forward... now here comes the tricky stuff because recent drifts are camouflaged with fresh snow, making them hard to detect. In any case, today you'll want to look for and avoid 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
I will update this forecast by 7:00 AM tomorrow, Wednesday, March 24th.
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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.