Observation Date
3/4/2015
Observer Name
Ted Scroggin
Region
Uintas » Bear River Ranger District » Gold Hill
Location Name or Route
Gold Hill
Weather
Sky
Few
Wind Direction
Northwest
Wind Speed
Light
Weather Comments
The day started out with clouds some light snow and cool temperatures, but by the afternoon skies were mostly clear and just some light winds along the ridge lines.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
12"
New Snow Density
Medium
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Snow Characteristics Comments
A nice storm for the area and it has really helped to fill in some thin spots and things look like winter. Quite a number of riders out today to enjoy the fresh snow and nice weather. Lots of aggressive tracks around the area with people riding hard on Moffit Peak, Gold Hill and the Whitney area and no human triggered avalanches that I observed.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Heavy Snowfall
Wind Loading
Red Flags Comments
The red flags I checked will likely not be much of an issue the next couple of days with warming temperatures. Even today I was not finding much instability other than some minor cracking in the fresh wind drifts and the new snow seems to have settled out fairly quickly.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Decreasing Danger
Problem #1 Comments
I was only getting some minor cracking in the fresh wind drifts along the higher ridge lines, but some of the bigger cornices looked sensitive and I did not mess with them.
Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
New Snow
Trend
Same
Problem #2 Comments
I only observed one small natural avalanche that likely happened during the storm in a steep thin bushy area that has had thin weak snow all winter.
Comments
I did observe some shallow natural avalanches that happened during the storm, but nothing too big. This natural avalanche on a steep thin bushy slope broke about 75' wide, was 12-16" deep and ran to the trees below. These thin shallow places would be likely areas where a person could trigger a slide and the new snow was just enough added weight to trigger the avalanche.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate
