Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains Issued by Craig Gordon for Sunday - February 16, 2014 - 5:28am
bottom line

This is when most avalanche accidents occur in the western Uinta's. Poor snowpack structure, recent nuking winds, lots of snow and water, and yea, huge avalanches... we've got all the red flags screaming at us!

At upper elevations, the avalanche danger is HIGH today. 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.

The danger is less pronounced on south facing terrain, which took on some heat yesterday and got shrink-wrapped.
avalanche warning

THIS AVALANCHE WARNING IS FOR THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTHERN AND CENTRAL UTAH. A HIGH AVALANCHE DANGER CONTINUES WITH LARGE, NATURAL AND HUMAN TRIGGERED AVALANCHES POSSIBLE. BACKCOUNTRY TRAVELERS SHOULD AVOID SLOPES STEEPER THAN 30 DEGREES AND AVALANCHE RUNNOUT AREAS. THIS WARNING DOES NOT INCLUDE SKI AREAS OR HIGHWAYS WHERE AVALANCHE CONTROL IS NORMALLY DONE.

 

 
current conditions

Skies are overcast, temperatures have cooled in to the upper 20's, west-southwest winds are blowing 35-50 mph along the high peaks. Most sunny aspects got baked yesterday and the surface snow is crusty. Cool, dry powder is found on mid and upper elevation shady slopes.

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

Click here for trip reports and avalanche observations.
recent activity


Ted and Trent stand next to a massive avalanche triggered in upper Weber Canyon yesterday. The slide was up to 10' deep, 700' wide, and ran about 1500' vertically.

More 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

It's been a crazy time on the eastern front and the snowpack is begging for a break. It's spooky out there and yesterday's massive slide on an upper elevation, heavy wind loaded, northeast facing slope, was truly impressive. All the tree snapping avalanches I've seen the past few days would be unsurvivable if you got caught and buried. Given the devastating consequences of triggering a slide right now, the best way to manage an unmanageable consequence is with terrain choices. Simply stay off of and out from under steep snow covered slopes, especially those facing the north half of the compass. Temperatures are cooling and I suspect we'll start to turn the corner towards more stable conditions after the big weekend warm up... right now we just need to exercise some patience.

JG's pit above along with the results below say it all.

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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

Cornices have grown huge and will break back further than you might expect. You'll definitely want to give these boxcar sized monsters the respect they deserve.
weather

A cold front moves through the area this afternoon, bringing a quick burst of snow through early this evening. Westerly winds ramp up, gusting to near 70 along the high peaks and temperatures dive into the teens overnight. High pressure develops behind the system tonight, giving us a sunny start to the work week. The next storm system to impact the area comes midweek.
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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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. 19, 2014