Observation Date
1/4/2020
Observer Name
jg
Region
Uintas
Location Name or Route
Western Uintas
Comments
Winds were strong from the south along the ridge lines, mostly just building cornice and blowing the rest of the snow to WY. There were westerly and easterly components to the winds where I was.
The biggest concerns seemed to be in the upper portion of the snowpack instead of with the persistent weak layer buried deeper in the pack. Height of snow was variable from place to place with depths from two to six feet (60cm-195cm) at 10K. Pit tests generally failed in the upper portion of the pack with medium-hard effort to fail. Weak snow still exists at the ground and is still a concern. Digging in the snow is the only way to identify the weaknesses you're dealing with in a specific area since the snowpack structure can vary greatly from slope to slope.
Upper photo - active snow transport today
(Lower photo) I noticed a wide natural avalanche on an upper elevation wind loaded south facing slope. Not a great photo...


Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate