Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains Issued by Craig Gordon for Tuesday - February 11, 2014 - 5:15am
bottom line

Avalanches are breaking deep and wide, taking out the entire seasons snowpack.

At all elevations, the avalanche danger is HIGH today and human triggered avalanches are very likely on all steep, wind drifted slopes. The danger is most pronounced on slopes facing the north half of the compass, particularly those with an easterly component to their aspect. Once triggered avalanches have the possibility to break deep and wide, creating a dangerous and possibly unsurvivable slide.




avalanche warning

AN AVALANCHE WARNING CONTINUES FOR THE WESTERN UINTAS WHERE DEEP, DANGEROUS, AND POSSIBLY UNSURVIVABLE HUMAN TRIGGERED AVALANCHES CAN STILL BE TRIGGERED ON STEEP WIND DRIFTED SLOPES.

 

 

 
special announcement

Our collective prayers, energy, and condolences go out to the friends and families of Ashleigh Nicole Cox and Clint Conover who were both tragically killed in separate avalanche accidents this weekend. Accident reports can be found here
current conditions

Skies cleared late yesterday allowing for the first real look across the range and man, the place is white! The big weekend storm delivered a crushingly deep 3'-4' of snow and nearly 4" of water. Temperatures are in the mid teens and westerly winds are blowing 10-20 mph along the high ridges.

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

Click here for trip reports and avalanche observations.
recent activity

The madness continues.

Recent avalanche activity is found here.
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

Avalanches are breaking unpredictably wide and deep. Once triggered, today's slides will easily break to weaker layers buried deep in the snowpack, resulting in a dangerous and possibly unsurvivable slide. Cracking and collapsing along with recent avalanches on the same type of terrain you wanna ride are huge clues to unstable snow.

You don't have to trigger avalanches to know it's sketchy out there. JG's pit results say it all!

.
Avalanche Problem 2
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

It's pretty straightforward. Strong winds, lots of water weight, and rising temperatures have severely stressed weak layers of snow near the ground, especially on slopes where the pack remains thin and fragile. Much of our terrain throughout the range is unusually shallow for this time of year and steep, rocky slopes, especially those facing the north half of the compass need to be avoided. Deep, dangerous avalanches can be triggered from relatively flat terrain low on the slope. Avalanches are running far, fast, and furious. Today you'll need to avoid being on, below, or adjacent to steep, wind drifted terrain.

weather

A weather disturbance passing north of the area brings increasing cloud cover today through tonight. A warm and moist storm track develops beginning Wednesday, and persists through the end of the week. Although the heaviest precipitation is expected to remain north of the area, periods of snow with rising snow levels can be expected during this time.
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]

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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 Wednesday Feb. 12, 2014