Uintas Avalanche Advisory

Forecaster: Craig Gordon

BOTTOM LINE

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


Danger Rose Tutorial

At mid and upper elevations the avalanche danger is MODERATE on steep, wind drifted slopes and human triggered avalanches are possible. In addition, there’s still an isolated possibility of triggering a slide that breaks into weak snow near the ground, especially in steep, rocky terrain facing the north half of the compass at mid and upper elevations. A MODERATE avalanche danger still exists on slopes with these characteristics.

The avalanche danger is generally LOW in wind sheltered terrain.


CURRENT CONDITIONS

Skies are partly cloudy and temperatures have cooled as high pressure builds in the wake of yesterday’s storm system. The North Slope received 6” of new snow, there’s 4” at the trailheads and about half that amount around Daniels and Strawberry. Winds have been all over the map the past few days, gusting into the low 70’s out of the south on Thursday, switching to the west-southwest and blowing 25-45 mph on Friday, before finally turning more westerly overnight and backing off into the low 20’s. Riding and turning conditions are gonna be a mixed bag, though you can still find soft, creamy snow on wind sheltered, north facing slopes.


RECENT ACTIVITY

Few riders have been out this week and there’s no new avalanche activity to report.


THREAT #1

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

While this isn’t a big Uinta storm by any means, raging winds the past few days created stout, stubborn wind slabs that a rider could still trigger today. Fresh slabs will be found not only on the leeward side of upper elevation ridges, but also a little further downslope then usual. In addition, they’ll be a few pockets crossloaded around chutes, gullies and sub-ridges. Today’s hard slabs will allow a rider to get well out onto them before they fail, breaking above you and packing more of a punch than you might expect. Once triggered, avalanches still have the possibility of breaking into weaker snow especially in steep, rocky terrain.


THREAT #2

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

Of course this forecast wouldn’t be complete without the mention of at least an isolated possibility of triggering a slide that breaks on weak, sugary snow near the ground. Remember- our snowpack is only 60-70% of where we should be for this time of year and you know that shallow snow means weak snow. The terrain we normally head to in the spring and “ride it if it’s white” isn’t good to go. In fact, many steep, mid and upper elevation slopes remain thin and weak. If you’re travels take you into big, committing terrain, avoid likely trigger points like steep breakovers or shallow, rocky looking slopes. Above all- think about the consequences of triggering a slide.


MOUNTAIN WEATHER

High pressure builds today as our storm heads east through Colorado. After a few early morning flurries, skies should clear and temperatures rise into the low 30’s at 8,000’ and mid 20’s at 10,000’. Overnight lows dip into the mid teens. Winds may briefly pick up along the high ridges mid morning as they veer from the northwest towards north-northeast and could gust into the low 40’s before dying off in the early afternoon. A rapid warming trend rockets high temperatures into the low 40’s tomorrow and into the upper 40’s on Monday. A cold storm moves over the region around Wednesday, though it looks like most of the energy heads to southern Utah.


GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

The information in this advisory expires 24 hours after the date and time posted, but will be updated by 7:00 AM Sunday March 28th, 2010.

If you’re getting out and about and trigger an avalanche or see anything interesting please drop us an email at craig@utahavalanchecenter.org or call 801-231-2170

Also, we've installed two beacon checkers exclusively for snowmobiler's- one at the Noblett's Trailhead, the other at the Bear River Trailhead. Thanks to Backcountry Access, the Bear River Lodge for donating one of the units and the great folks at the National Weather Service for their partnership, support and hard work making this project happen. Click here for a brief tutorial.


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.