Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains Issued by Craig Gordon for Wednesday - December 4, 2013 - 6:45am
bottom line

The avalanche danger is HIGH in steep, rocky, upper elevation leeward terrain, especially where solid feeling slabs overlay weak sugary snow near the ground. In terrain with these characteristics avalanche conditions are dangerous and human triggered avalanches are very likely.

A CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger will be found on steep, wind drifted mid elevation slopes and human triggered avalanches are likely.

Remember- avalanches can break at a distance and from low angle terrain. Even if you're playing in the flats, be aware of steep slopes above you and steep slopes you're connected to.

Low elevation terrain and slopes that were bare prior to yesterday's big storm offer a LOW avalanche danger.
special avalanche bulletin

Dangerous avalanche conditions exist in the western Uinta's where yesterdays storm virtually doubled our snowpack overnight. Avalanches can be triggered from a distance and on relatively low angle terrain resulting in large slides breaking to the ground.
special announcement

We will be giving a free avalanche awareness presentation geared specifically for sledders at 5:00 this Friday at Ridgeline Motorsports located on 543 E Main St. in Vernal. Click here for more details.
current conditions

Wow... yesterday's storm parked itself over the eastern front and kicked some serious boo-tay! Storm totals are pretty evenly disbursed across the range and it looks like 18"-24" is a good bet. Northeast winds are blowing 10-20 mph, combined with temperatures right around zero, make for wind chill factors near -25 degrees along the ridges.

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

It was like being inside a ping pong ball yesterday, so we didn't really get a good look around.
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

Fresh wind drifts are gonna be today's most obvious avalanche concern and they'll be found on the leeward side of upper elevation ridges, especially on slopes facing the north half of the compass. Rounded in appearance, today's drifts are easy to detect and avoid... this is a manageable avalanche problem. Not so manageable is the possibility of avalanches breaking to old snow near the ground. There's no lack of weak snow and avalanches can be triggered from a distance, even on relatively flat terrain. Once triggered, todays avalanches can break wider and deeper than you might expect and get quickly out of hand. Given the consequences of triggering a slide with the early season snow cover 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.
weather

The storm is heading east, leaving a few snow showers and brutally cold temperatures in its wake. We'll be lucky to climb much above zero degrees today with overnight lows near -10 degrees. Northerly winds blowing 10-20 mph along the ridges will add insult to injury. A snow shower or two lingering into Thursday before another storm is a good bet for the weekend..
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 Utah Avalanche Center. The UAC depends on contributions from users like you to support our work.

Benefit the Utah Avalanche Center when you buy or sell on ebay - set the Utah Avalanche Center as a favorite non-profit in your ebay account here and click on ebay gives when you buy or sell.  You can choose to have your seller fees donated to the UAC, which doesn't cost you a penny.

Utah Avalanche Center mobile app - Get your advisory on your iPhone along with great navigation and rescue tools.

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 Thursday Dec. 5, 2013