Observation Date
3/18/2014
Observer Name
Ted Scroggin
Region
Uintas » Bear River Ranger District » Gold Hill
Location Name or Route
Gold Hill
Weather
Sky
Broken
Precipitation
Light Snowfall
Wind Direction
Northwest
Wind Speed
Light
Weather Comments
Felt like a brief return to winter this morning with cold temperatures and cold powder like snow. A spring day in the high country with periods of light snow, followed by some sun that quickly changes the snow conditions from cold powder to damp snow.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
8"
New Snow Density
Medium
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Wind Crust
Damp
Snow Characteristics Comments
Not quite enough new snow to fill-in all the old tracks, but it sure did help the riding and turning conditions out there. There is still some nice powder like snow in sheltered areas and last nights snow freshened things up. The sunny slopes quickly took on some heat with the brief periods of sunshine, turning the new snow into damp gloppiness.
Red Flags
Red Flags Comments
No red flags observed today, but yesterday's very strong winds created lots of wind drifting. In the Gold Hill area many of these wind drifts have settled out and were not very reactive today as I was stomping around.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Decreasing Danger
Problem #1 Comments
I was not finding the wind drifts to be very sensitive today. Many of these would break at your skis and sled only a foot or so deep and would only entrain a little bit of the new snow as they traveled down the slope. In the very high steep terrain, some of these wind drifts could be more of a problem. The other issue for tomorrow might be the new snow sluffing easily with warming temperatures.
Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Same
Problem #2 Comments
Have not seen any recent deep slab avalanches, but I still think there are many areas throughout the area where this problem is still a good possibility.
Comments
The new snow seemed to be well behaved today, some minor sluffing that could be more of a hazard in steep terrain and with tomorrows sunshine the new snow will sluff quite easily.
Cornices along the high ridgelines continue to grow large and are quite impressive.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate
