Uintas Avalanche Advisory

Forecaster: Craig Gordon

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Plowing on the Mirror Lake Highway is done for the season and it's a mess near Bald Mountain Pass. Maintenance on Wolf Creek Pass continues. In either case, be aware the Uinta snowpack is much weaker than you might find in the central Wasatch.

Our Uinta weather station network up and running and you can click here for winds, temperatures, and snow depths from around the range.


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 a Level 2 (Moderate) avalanche danger exists and human triggered avalanches are possible on steep wind drifted slopes, especially those facing the north half of the compass. While more the exception than the rule, avalanches breaking into old snow are still possible, particularly on steep upper elevation northwest, north, northeast, and east facing slopes.

A Level 1 (Low) avalanche danger will be found at lower elevations out of the wind, on southerly facing terrain, and on slopes that had no snow prior to early November storms.


CURRENT CONDITIONS

Under a veil of clouds, temperatures remained mild overnight only dipping into the upper 20’s and low 30’s. Southerly winds are blowing 15-25 mph along the high ridges and total snow depths are a paltry 18”-24”. After last Friday’s raging winds there’s not much soft snow out there and all of our upper elevation terrain looks like the surface of the moon… what a way to run a winter!


RECENT ACTIVITY

Friday’s winds did produce some limited natural avalanche activity which was confined to the high elevation terrain surrounding Bald Mountain Pass. One new avalanche in Murdock Bowl was spotted yesterday. This slide was 2'-3' deep, 200' wide, and broke on weak snow near the ground. Click here to view Ted's great summary from yesterday.

Click here for recent observations from around the range.


THREAT #1

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

There might be a lingering wind slab or two lurking along the leeward side of upper elevation ridges. Most of the slabs seem lifeless and lack energy, but there may be a pocket that reacts to the additional weight of a rider. The consequences of triggering even a small avalanche are quite severe given the lack of snow coverage.


THREAT #2

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

Snowpit stability tests suggest the snowpack is happy in its own skin at the moment, but the basic fact is- our snowpack is structurally challenged and eventually the winter switch will get turned on. Once that happens we’ll be facing some very tricky avalanche conditions. Right now however, you’d really have to go out of your way to trigger a slide that breaks into old snow near the ground. There's really not that much snow on the eastern front and many slopes have anchors like rocks and stumps still poking through the snow. That being said, slamming into those same anchors in an avalanche will at the very least result in a season ending injury.


MOUNTAIN WEATHER

A cold and windy system drops into the region late this afternoon. While there’s not moisture associated with this storm, we will experience hurricane force winds blowing out of the east and northeast with gusts into the 70’s along the high ridges late this afternoon and this evening. Today’s high temperatures reach into the low and mid 30’s before crashing into the teens overnight. 1”-4” of snow is expected with the front, and then another cold system drops into the area Friday night through Saturday with an additional chance of snow and gusty northeast winds.


GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

The information in this advisory expires 24 hours after the date and time posted, but will be updated by 7:00 AM Saturday, December 2nd.

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

Also, now is a great time to schedule one of our free avalanche awareness presentations for your group or club. Email or call me and we’ll get you booked before things get too crazy.


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.