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Forecast for the Uintas Area Mountains

Craig Gordon
Issued by Craig Gordon on
Monday morning, January 30, 2023
Pockets of CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger exist on steep, upper elevation leeward slopes, especially in the wind zone at and above treeline. Both old and fresh wind drifts reactive to our additional weight are LIKELY, especially on steep slopes with an easterly component to its aspect. In addition, recent winds worked their way into mid elevation terrain where you'll find MODERATE avalanche danger and human triggered avalanche POSSIBLE on steep, wind drifted slopes. If you're looking for LOW avalanche danger and a Monday morning BOGO, well then, you came to the right place! Simply steer your snow riding rig towards mid or low elevation sunny slopes where human triggered avalanches are UNLIKELY and you can work on your winter tan to boot.
Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
Extreme
Learn how to read the forecast here
Weather and Snow
Nowcast- Skies are clearing in the wake of yesterday's storm that was a bit of a bust for us, but we managed to squeak out snow totals nearing the 6" range with just over .20" H2O none-the-less. If you're not in a room with a bunch of avalanche geeks that means the snow is ultra-light-blower-pow. Temperatures cratered to near zero overnight and winds are are light and westerly, blowing just 5-15 mph along the high peaks. Outstanding riding and turning conditions are the flavor of the day throughout the range.
Forecast- Expect sunny skies, temperatures barely creeping into the teens, and light west and northwest winds blowing 10-20 mph along the high ridges.
Futurecast- Not much going on... we remain high and dry through the work week. Temperatures steadily increase each day and winds are generally light.
Over-the-hood and over-the-head. Deep in the white room there's a sled, a hood, and yeah... a rider.
Huge thanks for all the great obs streaming in from the eastern front. Detailed trip reports and recent obs are found HERE.
Recent Avalanches
It'll take a keen eye to see this slide from the Mill Hollow trail. Yesterday, Shaun, Weston, and I checked out Saturday's human triggered slide on a steep, lower elevation, northwest facing slope in the Mill Hollow zone. We found the piece of snow breaking 18" deep and failing on a buried layer of Near Surface Facets mostly likely formed last Monday during a little break in storms and then buried and preserved by last weeks storms. More deets found HERE.
No other significant recent avalanche activity to report. However, if ya wanna geek out, click HERE to track this years slide activity throughout the range.
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Avalanche Problem #1
Wind Drifted Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
For the past 72 hours, winds have blown from every quadrant of the compass and there's no shortage of light snow available for transport. And while I think most of our fresh wind drifts have settled significantly, I bet there's a lingering drift or two that remains sensitive to our additional weight. Found on upper elevation leeward slopes and cross-loaded in chutes and gullies, both old and newly formed drifts may catch you by surprise, breaking deeper and wider than you might expect. This avalanche dragon is easy to navigate by avoidance... simply lose a little elevation, you lose the wind, and you lose the problem.
Additional Information
Not in the hat wearing category just yet, but our good friends and partners at the SLC NWS give us the heads up for today and tomorrow.
Weather stations-
And... rime events have severely crippled the Uinta weather station network. I'm working to get it back up and running, but a few stations are found HERE (click weather stations, and then on the Western Uinta tab)
Observations-
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 03:37 on Monday January 30th, this forecast expires 24 hours after the date and time posted, but will be updated by 07:00 Tuesday January 31st, 2023.
Before it gets too crazy, now is the time to book an avalanche awareness presentation for your group, club, or posse. You can reach Craig 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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