Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains Issued by Craig Gordon for Thursday - November 28, 2013 - 6:33am
bottom line

A MODERATE avalanche danger makes up a very small percentage of our terrain, but human triggered avalanches are possible. The most likely place to trigger a slide will be in steep, upper elevation terrain, especially on slopes facing north and northwest..

Wind sheltered terrain offers a LOW avalanche danger.




current conditions

Happy Thanksgiving! High pressure is beginning to break down in advance to a pattern change early next week. In the mean time, high clouds over the region have kept temperatures mild and in the upper 20's. South and southeast winds are blowing 10-20 mph along the high ridges. Riding and turning conditions are a bit grim, but patches of soft snow can be found on very wind sheltered, north facing, rock free meadows.

Click here for current winds, temperatures, and snowfall throughout the range.

Recent winds have worked what little snow there is in upper elevation exposed terrain, leaving it thin and scoured.

Wind sheltered terrain does offer patches of soft settled snow.

recent activity

No new avalanche activity to report.

Avalanche Problem 1
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

It's a mixed bag out there.... bottomless facets, exposed terrain scoured to the dirt, and an impenetrable feeling slab on the leeward side of mid and upper elevation ridgelines. The good news is the hard slab seems to have relaxed over time and on Tuesday, Ted and I found the wind drifts to be generally unreactive to our additional weight. However, these hard, solid feeling slabs are resting on very weak snow near the ground. Given the consequences of triggering a slide with the early season snow cover, we decided not to pull on the dogs tail too much. While not widespread, today you'll want to continue avoiding any fat or rounded looking piece of snow, especially if it sounds hollow like a drum. Remember- even a small avalanche could take you for a nasty ride through rocks and stumps barely hidden under our shallow snowpack.


The thin snowpack easily breaks to the ground on old October snow that has grown sugary overtime. Winter will eventually arrive and this weak structure is a dangerous setup.

weather

High clouds drift into the region the next few days and temperatures climb into the low 30's. Winds remain light and variable until Sunday when a warmer southerly flow develops and wind ramps up ahead of a colder, wet pattern that should move over the region on Monday. The jury is still out in regards to strength and timing, but we should have a better handle on the evolution of the storm for Saturday's update.

general announcements

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.

I will update this advisory by 7:00 AM on Saturday Nov. 30, 2013