Forecast for the Uintas Area Mountains
Issued by Craig Gordon on
Tuesday morning, March 3, 2020
Tuesday morning, March 3, 2020
Today's avalanche danger is pretty straightforward and easily managed with terrain choices-
In the wind zone at and above treeline, fresh drifts will react to our additional weight and you'll find MODERATE avalanche danger. Human triggered avalanches are possible, especially on steep wind drifted slopes and particularly in terrain facing the south half of the compass.
Lose a little elevation, lose the wind, and you lose the problem. Wind sheltered terrain offers generally LOW avalanche danger and human triggered avalanches are unlikely.
Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
Extreme
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Special Announcements
The UAC's Avy Awareness Auction is currently underway with tons of great gear, jewelry, artwork and experiences available. Visit the auction page here to help support the UAC's spring avalanche awareness and outreach efforts.
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Weather and Snow
Currently-
High clouds drifted into the region overnight and northwest winds bumped into the 20's and 30's along the high ridges. Current temperatures register in the teens and low 20's. Sunday's shallow dose of fresh, white paint, greatly improved, riding conditions and low angle slopes are the ticket.
Uinta weather network info is found here. Simply click on the Western Uinta tab.
For today-
Look for partly sunny skies, diminishing winds, and temperatures climbing into the low and mid 30's. Overnight lows under clear skies dip into the teens.
Futurecast-
Strong southwest winds develop Friday (~60 mph gusts), continuing to ramp up Saturday (~80 mph gusts), ahead of a Pacific trough nearing the West Coast.
Recent Avalanches
No significant avalanche activity to report.
To view additional trip reports and recent avalanche activity, simply click here.
JG was in Upper Weber Canyon yesterday and reports a little sluffing in the new snow, but a mostly stable snowpack.... good news! More on JG's travels and intrepid insight is found here.
Avalanche Problem #1
Wind Drifted Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
Follow the wind and.... you'll find where shallow, yet sensitive wind drifts live on the south half of the compass. The southside shuffle illustrated above in a 24 hour data run from Windy Peak (10,662').
Isolated to terrain in the wind zone, fresh wind drifts formed overnight along the leeward side of upper elevation ridges facing the south half of the compass. Not particularly deep, today's shallow wind slabs will react to our additional weight and may break a bit deeper and wider than you'd expect. In addition, there are some hard, slick crusts for avalanches to run on and on steep, sustained slopes, today's slides may travel further and faster than you might expect. The good news is... today's drifts will predictably break at or below our skis, board, or sled. But remember... if you're tagging steep, technical terrain, be aware that even a small slide could knock you off your feet and boss you around. So, the ticket to riding safely today is simply look for and avoid any fat, rounded piece of snow, especially if it sounds hollow like a drum.
Additional Information
Ryan shared an image from Sunday's outing in Whitney Basin, where it looks like his hybrid access worked out rather well for a day of mixed approach riding and turning.... good on ya.
General Announcements
The information in this forecast expires in 24 hours, but will be updated by 7:00 AM Wednesday Mar. 4th.
This forecast is updated daily by 7:00 AM.
In the mean-time, 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
This is a great time of year to schedule one of our free avy awareness presentations.
You can email me directly [email protected]
The information in this forecast is from the US Forest Service which is solely responsible for its content.