Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains Issued by Craig Gordon for Saturday - December 27, 2014 - 5:16am
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At upper elevations at and above treeline, the avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE. While not widespread and pockety in nature, human triggered avalanches are probable on steep, wind drifted slopes facing the north half of the compass, especially on slopes with an easterly component to their aspect. Any slide triggered today has the potential to break to the ground, resulting in a dangerous avalanche.

A MODERATE avalanche danger exists on recently wind loaded slopes at mid elevations and human triggered avalanches are possible

A LOW avalanche danger exists on low and mid elevation slopes facing the south half of the compass and terrain that had no pre-existing snow prior to last weeks big storm.
special announcement

We just released an exciting, new avy safety video designed specifically for snowmobilers - Knowledge is Powder. https://vimeo.com/113677686

NEW THIS YEAR: You can now receive advisories by email for each region in the state. Go here for details.
current conditions

Under clear skies, temperatures crashed into negative territory overnight and currently it's -3 degrees at most locations. Add northwest winds blowing 15-25 mph along the high ridges, and it's a dangerous proposition with wind chill factors reaching -25 degrees. The surface snow is extremely light and it's an over-the-hood, five star kinda day, especially on mid elevation, wind sheltered slopes.
recent activity

Similar snowpack structure in the backcountry along the Park City ridgeline, led to a very close call yesterday. Click here for more details.

Closer to home... a couple sled triggered slides near Tower Mountain on Tuesday occurring on heavily wind loaded east and northeast facing terrain. Fortunately, the debris fanned out and no one was caught, buried, or injured, but the writing is on the wall and avalanche conditions remain sketchy in the western Uinta's. Recent trip reports, backcountry observations, and avalanche observations are 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

On many slopes throughout the range, the snowpack has adjusted to the recent storms, but it's definitely not a green light, center punch anything kinda day. Deceptive, not so easy to detect, and even less manageable, are avalanches that break to weak layers of snow near the ground. It's what we call persistent slabs. Here's a great video illustrating why they're so dangerous. Any avalanche triggered today, still has the potential to break deep and wide, producing a large and dangerous slide. Avoid steep wind drifted terrain and you avoid the problem

Unpredictable, dangerous, and triggered on relatively low angle terrain, this recent slide on the Roundy Basin Ridge broke to weak snow near the ground.
weather

After a clear start, we can expect increasing clouds late in the day as another storm system is slated to impact the region early Sunday morning. Northwest winds are gonna add a bite along the ridges, where they'll be blowing in the 20's and 30's. Temperatures climb into the mid teens and dip into the single digits overnight. Snow begins Sunday morning and a foot seems reasonable by the time the storm winds down Monday.

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 Sunday Dec. 28, 2014.