Uintas Avalanche Advisory

Forecaster: Craig Gordon

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

  Our third annual Avalanche Center fundraising ride is Saturday February 7th. Click here for more details.

 


BOTTOM LINE

Danger by aspect and elevation on slopes approaching 35° or steeper.
(click HERE for tomorrow's danger rating)


Danger Rose Tutorial

At and above treeline the avalanche danger remains CONSIDERABLE today for triggering deep, dangerous avalanches which break into old snow near the ground and for avalanches triggered in freshly deposited drifts of new snow. Human triggered avalanches are PROBABLE on slopes steeper than 35 degrees.

Lower elevation northerly facing terrain has a MODERATE avalanche danger and human triggered avalanches are possible on slopes steeper than 35 degrees.

Low elevation slopes facing the south half of the compass generally have a LOW avalanche danger.

 

 


CURRENT CONDITIONS

 

 

Skies are mostly cloudy this morning, an inch of new snow fell overnight, but the big news is the wind… and man is it howling. West and northwest winds increased early yesterday afternoon and blew steadily all night, 20-40 mph along most ridgelines, gusting into the 60’s near the high peaks. Temperatures are in the mid teens at both 8,000’ and 10,000’. Riding and turning conditions changed drastically in the past 24 hours and upper elevation terrain got nuked overnight.

 

 

 

 


RECENT ACTIVITY

 

 

Plenty of evidence the region experienced a widespread natural avalanche cycle.

One class two hard slab to the ground- 3’ deep, 100’ wide, running 300’ vertical- reported by 1000 Peaks with explosive testing. For more photos of recent avalanche activity click here

 


THREAT #1

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

 

I think our deeper instabilities are finally calming down and it seems the snowpack is starting to turn a corner towards strengthening. The region experienced a widespread natural avalanche cycle and from what we can tell, most of the recent avalanche activity occurred in steep rocky terrain with a shallow snowpack. What’s going to make the stability pattern tricky is both the debris and crowns are getting rapidly filled in, making them hard to detect. Keep in mind, the snowpack is still in a state of adjustment, reeling from last week’s storm and today it’s getting loaded by the wind at a rapid pace. Much of our deeper snowpack terrain is starting to bridge over the weaknesses near the ground and that’s the good news. The bad news is you can still trigger deep dangerous avalanches to the ground especially in steep terrain with a shallow, weak snowpack. The next few days are going to be critical as the snow continues to gain strength and avalanches are harder to trigger. However the ones you do initiate will be big, scary and dangerous.


THREAT #2

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

 

 

All the light fluffy powder that was giving us face shots yesterday was no match for last night’s burly winds. As a matter of fact, by early yesterday afternoon, shallow soft slabs were beginning to form near the ridges, but these were manageable and predictable, breaking right at or below your sled or skis. However, that all changed overnight as strong winds whipped the new snow into more widespread sensitive slabs that are probably a couple feet deep this morning and very reactive to the weight of a rider. The new drifts are easy to identify- they’ll be fat, rounded pillows of snow- and slope cuts are an effective method of testing the snows’ stability. Remember to tweak small test slopes with little consequence and see how they’re reacting, before diving into big terrain. While it’s becoming less likely overtime, avalanches triggered within the new drifts still have the possibility of breaking into deeper, buried weak layers, especially in steep, rocky terrain. This of course, would create a larger slide than you might expect.


MOUNTAIN WEATHER

 

 

Today we can expect mostly cloudy skies, light snow and nuking northwesterly winds along the ridges. Hourly averages will be in the 30’s and 40’s with gusts in the 70’s along the high ridges. Temperatures are expected to remain cold with highs only reaching into the mid teens. Overnight lows will be near 10 degrees. This isn’t a big storm and only a few inches of snow will accumulate before the system moves to the east by this evening. High pressure and drying are on tap for Thursday/Friday with another brush by for the weekend. There a re no big storms in sight.

 

 

 


GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Remember- your observations help to save other riders lives. So if you see or trigger any avalanches please let me know what your seeing. You can reach me at 801-231-2170 or craig@utahavalanchecenter.org

While it's quiet, now is a great time to schedule a free avalanche awareness class for your group or club. You can reach me at 801-231-2170 or craig@utahavalanchecenter.org for more details.

The information in this advisory expires 24 hours after the date and time posted. I'll update this advisory by 7:00 am on Saturday Jan. 31, 2009.


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.


This advisory provided by the USDA Forest Service, in partnership with:

The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center, Utah Division of State Parks and Recreation, Utah Division of Emergency Management, Salt Lake County, Salt Lake Unified Fire Authority and the friends of the La Sal Avalanche Center. See our Sponsors Page for a complete list.