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Forecast for the Uintas Area Mountains

Craig Gordon
Issued by Craig Gordon on
Sunday morning, November 6, 2022
The landscape changed overnight and so has the avalanche danger-
Last nights dense, heavy snow, coupled with strong winds, whipped up fresh drifts along the leeward side of upper elevation ridges and around terrain features like chutes and gullies. Today you'll want to avoid steep terrain facing the north half of the compass with these characteristics, especially slopes with an easterly component to its aspect. And remember... any avalanche triggered today can result in a season ending, traumatic injury.
Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
Extreme
Learn how to read the forecast here
Special Announcements
SAVE THE DATE and TAKE A DATE... SEE YOU WEDNESDAY NIGHT!
Grab your riding posse and sign up for the 15th Annual Utah Snow and Avalanche Workshop (USAW). You've got a couple days left to join us for an evening of solid avy education, brought to you by a remarkable group of presenters, all delivered virtually to the comfort of your own home... November 9th. Sign up and get more info HERE.
The Avalanche Professional and Ski Patrol Snow and Avalanche Workshop (PROSAW) will be during the day of November 7th. Sign up and get more info HERE.
Get your avy savvy groove goin'-
It's never to early to start thinking about avalanches. A few things to consider doing:
Attend USAW and learn more about avalanches and decision making.
Sign up for an avalanche class.
Take the online courses listed on the KBYG website (Develop skills -> Online Learning).
Get your avalanche rescue gear ready for winter. Put fresh batteries in your transceiver and update the firmware. Inspect your shovel and probe. Get your airbag backpack ready by possibly doing a test deployment and update the firmware if it is an electric version.
Weather and Snow
Nowcast- Our storm was unfashionably late to the party, but it rolled in none-the-less, right around 8:00 last night, quickly stacking up 8" of dense snow with nearly an inch of water. The recent storms have favored the North Slope and I think there's close to a foot of fresh snow in the Whitney Basin zone. Yesterday's cow tipping west and southwest winds blasted the ridges, but died down as the storm arrived, switched to the northwest and currently blow 10-20 mph along the high peaks. Temperatures register in the low to mid teens across the board. Total snow depths average 18"-24"... just enough coverage for a few turns on a grassy meadow or a quick rip with the sled on a smooth, rock free road.
Forecast- Expect a few lingering snow showers this morning with light west and northwest winds blowing in the teens and low 20's along the high ridges. Winds shift to the southwest and bump into the 30's as the day progresses. High temperatures rise into the upper 20's and low 30's.
Furturecast- Southerly winds crank into the 30's and 40's overnight as another solid blast of moisture heads our way. The storm kicks into gear Monday afternoon and lingers through Wednesday. A foot of snow is a good bet.
Ted snagged this recent pit profile from Bald Mountain which is quite representative of much of the range.
Recent Avalanches
No recent avy activity to report. Trip reports are found HERE
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Avalanche Problem #1
Wind Drifted Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
On Friday, Ted was in the Bald Mountain zone and Micheal J and I linked up near Wolf Creek and we all came to this conclusion of the obvious... travel is pretty limited to upper elevation terrain. And the problem is... that's exactly where today's hazard exists, especially on steep wind drifted slopes facing the north half of the compass. Making things tricky today are the old wind drifts that are now camouflaged under last nights storm snow that fell straight out of the sky. Best bet for today is avoiding any fat, rounded pillow of snow, especially if it sounds hollow like a drum. Once triggered, today's avalanches have the potential to break deeper and wider than you might expect. Remember, even a small wind drift can easily knock you off your feet and slam you into a group of trees or over a cliff band.
Additional Information
Of course, early season roadside attractions like Murdock Bowl off the Mirror Lake Highway or Wolf Creek Bowl along Highway 35 become likely suspects as roadside, park n' ride grabs. Here's the deal... just 'cause you can see it from the road, that doesn't necessarily mean it's safe and good to go.
And we've been super busy this summer upgrading the western Uinta weather station network and this real-time info is found HERE (click weather stations, and then on Western Uinta tab)
Your observations are important, so please let me know what you're seeing... click HERE and contribute to this amazing community based program
General Announcements
Issued at 03:51 on Sunday November 6th, this information expires 24 hours after the date and time posted.
I will update this forecast as conditions change and then once winter kicks into gear you can expect the usual daily forecasts issued by 07:00... or perhaps earlier :)
Before it gets too crazy, now is the time to book an avalanche awareness presentation for your group, club, or posse. 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.
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