Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains | Issued by Craig Gordon for March 6, 2013 - 6:44am |
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bottom line In the wind zone at and above treeline, pockets of CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger exist and human triggered avalanches are likely on steep, leeward, northwest through east facing slopes. A MODERATE avalanche danger is found at mid elevations and human triggered avalanches are possible on steep wind drifted slopes. If you're looking for LOW avalanche danger, head to wind sheltered terrain or carve turns on flat meadows with no steep slopes above or adjacent to where you're riding.
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current conditions A band of clouds is on our doorstep as a slow moving, moist Pacific system makes it's way into the region. Meanwhile, southerly winds ramped up around noon yesterday and have been steadily increasing with averages in the 20's and 30's and gusts in the 50's. Temperatures remained rather warm overnight and are currently in the low to mid 20's. Low elevation terrain and sunny slopes took a hit from the heat yesterday and upper elevation terrain is getting worked by the wind. But drop a couple hundred feet off the ridges and you'll find soft creamy snow on sheltered shady slopes. Recent observations can be found here. Our entire Uinta weather station network is up and running. A link to real-time wind, snow, and temperature data can be found here. This monumental achievement couldn't have happened without the joint efforts from the National Weather Service, The Heber-Kamas and Evanston Ranger Districts, Park City Powder Cats, and all the great work by Ted, Trent, Cody, and Al. Thanks to everyone... this is awesome! Wondering why last winter was so crazy? Click here to watch the 2011-12 Utah Winter Review... an excellent recap of last years conditions.
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recent activity Southwest winds picked up yesterday leading to this natural cornice fall on a steep northeast facing slope in Chalk Creek which subsequently triggered a slab lower on the slope.
Click here for recent observations from the region. |
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I was surprised yesterday how quickly winds changed the landscape, rapidly forming sensitive wind drifts on steep, upper elevation, leeward slopes. Winds are forecast to remain pretty burly throughout the day and I expect today's slabs have the possibility to break several feet deep and may release a larger piece of snow than you might expect. Easy to detect and easier to avoid, fat rounded pillows of snow are a good clue to wind loaded slopes. You'll find the vast majority of these on steep, shady slopes at and above treeline. Yesterday's winds were busy at work, rapidly forming sensitive drifts on steep, shady, upper elevation slopes.
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It's amazing. Here it is March and we're still talking about a shallow snowpack and avalanches breaking to a weak layer formed in January. What really blows me away is that some of our weakest snow is found on sunny facing slopes and is being protected by a thin facade of snow. In many places it's a sandbox, but right now lacks a key ingredient... a well connected slab. On the shady half of the compass the structure is a bit different and there's more body or strength to the snow. The downside of north facing terrain is that there is a slab overlying weak snow. The most likely terrain to trigger a deep, unmanageable slide is gonna be in the usual suspects- steep, rocky, upper elevation slopes facing the north half of the compass. The best way to combat triggering a deep dangerous slide is with terrain selection. Tone it down a notch or two and you can still have a blast carving turns on low angle terrain. This slope took a big hit with a huge piece of cornice slamming down on it, triggering a slide that broke to weak January snow.
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Do these lips make my slabs look fat? Cornices have grown huge and may break back further than you might expect. You'll want to steer clear of these unpredictable pieces of snow. |
weather Strong southerly winds gusting into the 40's and 50's proceed a storm system slated to impact the region later tonight. In the meantime, temperatures climb into the mid 40's and clouds thicken throughout the day. This doesn't look like a huge snow producer, but should be a prolonged event lasting till the weekend, stacking up 2"-4" of snow each day.
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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 Saturday March 9th. |