Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Abajo Area Mountains Issued by Eric Trenbeath for Thursday - February 8, 2018 - 7:32am
bottom line

There is an isolated or MODERATE avalanche danger on steep, upper elevation northerly facing slopes where more than about a 16" of snow can be found overlying weak, sugary snow on the ground. Elsewhere the avalanche danger is generally LOW.




special announcement

Episode 3 of the UAC podcast is live. We talk with UDOT Avalanche Program Supervisor Bill Nalli on how he and his teams keep the Greatest Snow on Earth from avalanching over the open roads and highways of the state. Check it out on ITunes, Stitcher, the UAC blog, or wherever you get your podcasts.

current conditions

The mountains picked up 2-5" of new snow on Tuesday. Not enough to turn winter around but every little but helps. Kevin Dressel went up and checked it out. Read his findings here.

Wind, temperature and humidity on Abajo Peak (11,000')

Snow totals at Buckboard Flat (8924')

Snow totals at Camp Jackson (8858')

Avalanche Problem 1
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

Though isolated, a persistent slab danger still exists on steep, NW-N-E facing slopes above about 10,500 feet where more than about 16" of snow can be found on top of weak, sugary, faceted snow at the ground. Kevin Dressler was out again yesterday and reported more collapsing and cracking in the snowpack in these areas - telltale signs of instability.

weather

general announcements

The UAC has new support programs with Outdoor Research and Darn Tough. Support the UAC through your daily shopping. When you shop at Smith's, or online at Outdoor Research, REI, Backcountry.com, Darn Tough, Patagonia, NRS, Amazon, eBay a portion of your purchase will be donated to the FUAC. See our Donate Page for more details on how you can support the UAC when you shop.

Benefit the Utah Avalanche Center when you buy or sell on eBay - set the Utah Avalanche Center as a favorite non-profit in your eBay account here and click on eBay gives when you buy or sell. You can choose to have your seller fees donated to the UAC, which doesn't cost you a penny

This information does not apply to developed ski areas or highways where avalanche control is normally done. This advisory is from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.