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Observation: Uintas

Observation Date
1/24/2024
Observer Name
Ted Scroggin
Region
Uintas
Location Name or Route
Mill Creek
Weather
Sky
Broken
Wind Direction
West
Wind Speed
Light
Weather Comments
Mostly cloudy this morning with some clearing skies this afternoon and light winds from the west and temperatures stayed mild for January.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
5"
New Snow Density
Medium
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Wind Crust
Damp
Snow Characteristics Comments
Only 1" new at the trail head today, but was pleasantly surprised to find around 5" of medium density snow from last nights little bit of weather in the upper Mill Creek Drainage. The snow conditions are quite good and the traveling is easy, although I was finding a few logs and stumps which is not uncommon around Mill Creek where the snowpack can be a little shallow. I was finding about 150cm or 60" of snow on the ground in this area and despite the poor snowpack structure the snow coverage is pretty good.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Recent Avalanches
Collapsing
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
A few red flags observed today with one collapse and some recent avalanches in the area. The most recent avalanche may have been from a few days ago on a southeast aspect that was possibly triggered by a moose walking near the bottom of the slope.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Persistent Weak Layer
Trend
Same
Problem #1 Comments
I had one notable collapse today as I was traveling along the ridge line which tells me the snow pack is still capable of producing an avalanche.
Comments
Found this somewhat recent avalanche on a southeast aspect at 10,500' in Mill Creek. At first I thought it was human triggered from the sled tracks near the bottom, but it may be from a moose that was walking closer to the toe of the slope. The avalanche broke to the ground on early season weak sugary snow with hard blocks of dense wind drifted snow. Not a big slide and it did not travel far due to the slope angle, but it was a good heads up that slides can still be triggered from the bottom and from a distance.
Around 5" of new snow today that helped the riding conditions in the Mill Creek Drainage.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Considerable
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Considerable
Coordinates