Observation Date
2/4/2024
Observer Name
Ted Scroggin
Region
Uintas » Gold Hill
Location Name or Route
Gold Hill
Weather
Sky
Clear
Wind Direction
Southeast
Wind Speed
Light
Weather Comments
Cold this morning with single digit temps at the trail head and some light southeast winds kept things on the cool side today. The winds were not strong where I traveled, but I could see big snow plumes coming off the higher elevation areas. The skies stayed clear with only a few high clouds and it was a beautiful day on the forest.
Snow Characteristics
New Snow Depth
12"
New Snow Density
Low
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Snow Characteristics Comments
The storm total looks about 12-14" in the Gold Hill area since Friday with some higher density snow which helped fill in old tracks and last nights few inches of cold low density snow was the icing on the cake. Very nice snow conditions with supportable snow and the coverage is quite good.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Wind Loading
Red Flags Comments
Although I did not observe wind issues in my travels, I could see stronger winds up high blowing lots of new low density snow. The local weather stations were showing winds from a southeast direction.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Trend
Decreasing Danger
Problem #1 Comments
The mid elevation terrain where I traveled was not quite in the wind zone today, but I could see where some old wind drifts were not covered with last nights few inches. These wind drifts were not reactive along the Gold Hill ridge line, just some cracking as the new snow started to slab up a bit.
Avalanche Problem #2
Problem
New Snow
Trend
Decreasing Danger
Problem #2 Comments
The 12-14" new snow was getting its first hit of sunshine and the east facing slopes this morning were sluffing once the snow got moving.
Comments
With a little help the new snow was sluffing on both shady and sunny slopes. Not a big problem, but the snow could stack up in some steeper terrain.
A nice storm for the north slope with some higher density snow early in the storm and ended with some nice cold low density snow. The riding and turning conditions were very nice today with most of the old hard tracks filled in. Just a few bigger stumps and hazards out there, but the coverage is good.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate
Coordinates
