Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains | Issued by Craig Gordon for March 20, 2013 - 6:35am |
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bottom line As the storm develops the avalanche danger will rise to MODERATE and human triggered avalanches will become possible on steep, upper elevation, wind drifted slopes facing the north half of the compass. Out of the wind and on low angle slopes with no steep terrain above or adjacent to where you're riding, you'll find a LOW avalanche danger.
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special announcement
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current conditions Clouds are streaming into the area as a moist westerly flow with several embedded impulses settles in over the region. Southerly winds are blowing in the 20's and 30's along the high ridges and temperatures are in the upper 20's. The late weekend storm favored the North Slope with up to 6" of new snow falling on a solid, go-anywhere base. Riding and turning conditions are excellent right now. 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 On Monday, a very experienced local surfed a large piece of cornice that breaks behind him above a steep chute on Moffit Peak. The bus sized piece of snow pulls out a 2-3 ft deep x 50 ft wide hard slab that runs nearly 1000 ft vertically with the skier on board for the entire ride channeling his inner Laird Hamilton self. Fortunately all ends well.
Click here for recent observations from the region. |
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description
Temperatures have remained relatively cool the past few days and there's plenty of light density snow at the upper elevations. Winds are going to increase throughout the day and I suspect shallow slabs sensitive to the additional weight of a rider will become more widespread as the day wares on. While mostly manageable in size and depth, fresh drifts are forming on a variety of hard, slick bed surfaces. Once triggered, today's slabs have the potential to take you for an unexpected ride down the skating rink-like surface underneath the soft snow. Yesterday we found a few shallow soft slabs triggered naturally in steep, upper elevation, wind drifted terrain facing the north half of the compass.
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Cornices continue to grow and may break back a little further than you might expect. Probably best to steer clear of these unpredictable pieces of snow.
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weather Today we can expect a warm and windy day as a series of storms begins impacting the region. Clouds thicken throughout the day, temperatures rise into the upper 30's, and southwest winds gust into the 40's and 50's along the high ridges. Snow develops late this afternoon with 1"-3" expected. Colder air arrives early Thursday morning and an additional 3"-6" expected along with a couple more inches during the day. Unsettled weather and colder temperatures prevail through the weekend. Not a huge snow producer, but should add up to storm totals nearing a foot before high pressure builds early next week.
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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 23rd. |