Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains | Issued by Craig Gordon for February 3, 2013 - 5:40am |
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bottom line At and above treeline a CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger exists today and dangerous human triggered avalanches are likely, especially on steep wind drifted slopes with an easterly component to their aspect. A MODERATE avalanche danger is found on steep, wind drifted mid elevation terrain and human triggered avalanches are possible. LOW avalanche danger is found on low angle, wind sheltered terrain, where there are no steep slopes above or adjacent to where you're riding .
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current conditions High, thin clouds moved into the region late yesterday and there's a thin veil still over the area this morning. Temperatures are in the low to mid 20's and winds are light and variable, blowing 5-15 mph even along the high peaks. Sunny slopes took on some heat yesterday and they'll be crusty this morning. On the other side of the compass, shady wind sheltered slopes are the ticket where you'll still find soft, settled, creamy powder. Recent observations can be found here. Wondering why last winter was so crazy? Click here to watch the 2011-12 Utah Winter Review... an excellent recap of last years conditions. This image pretty much sums it up... cornices have grown in the past few days, north facing terrain is wind loaded and fat, and the Uintas are white. |
recent activity A chunk of cornice broke off and triggered a decent piece of snow yesterday on the south face of Windy Peak. While not huge, a slide of this proportion would take you for a nasty ride, immediately ruining a great day of riding.
An update on the close call at Monte Cristo is found here. An accident report detailing the very tragic avalanche in the West Fork of the Duchesne can be found here.
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description
The January dryspell added a tricky and now unwelcome headache to our snowpack. In much of our north facing terrain, a strong cohesive slab rests on top of weak, sugary facets. Complicating matters is the fact that the trickiest setup is in sheltered terrain where the weak facets are most pronounced and this is exactly the kind of terrain we go to when the avalanche danger is elevated. While many slopes are good to go and offer green light conditions, others are just waiting for a trigger to come along and knock the legs out from underneath it. One thing for sure- persistent buried weak layers trick even the most experienced avalanche people and our current setup is no different. Once triggered, today's avalanches will break deeper and wider than you might expect. Low angle slopes not connected to steep terrain above you are gonna be the hot game in town.
Dan Gardiner sent in this great image of a pocket he triggered in Soapstone from low on the slope. This slide occurred on a NE facing slope at around 9,400'. Dan did all the right stuff... tweaking smaller hills to see how they're reacting, rather than getting into the big terrain and then getting surprised. |
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Old wind slabs are becoming a bit less likely to trigger, but don't get tricked into thinking this is the only avalanche dragon out there. A manageable avalanche could quickly get out of hand, especially if it breaks into weaker layers of the snowpack as it crashes down on the slope below. Ted found this wind slab on a steep, upper elevation wind drifted slope near Bald Mountain Pass. |
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Cornices have grown and will break further back than you might expect. Best to steer clear of these unpredictable pieces of snow. Thanks to JG for this beautiful picture. |
weather Clouds should thin out as the day wares on and high pressure strengthens. Winds remain light and temperatures soar into the mid 30's. Warmer weather is expected through about Wednesday when a cool, but weak system brushes the region. A cold, wet system is slated to affect the area by about Friday. We'll have more details on strength and timing for Wednesday's midweek update. |
general annoucements Remember your information can save lives. If you see anything we should know about, please participate in the creation of our own community avalanche advisory by submitting snow and avalanche conditions. You can call me directly at 801-231-2170, email [email protected], or email by clicking HERE This is a great time of year to schedule a free avalanche awareness presentation for your group or club. You can contact me at 801-231-2170 or email [email protected] Donate to your favorite non-profit –The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center. The UAC depends on contributions from users like you to support our work. The information in this advisory is from the US Forest Service which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur. The information in this advisory expires 24 hours after the date and time posted, but will be updated by 7:00 AM Wednesday February 6th. |