Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains | utahavalanchecenter.org

Avalanche Advisory

Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains	Issued by Craig Gordon for Saturday - April 4, 2015 - 5:50am

bottom line

At mid and upper elevations, the avalanche danger will rise to MODERATE and human triggered wet slides are possible on steep, sun baked slopes, especially during the heat of the day.

Most other terrain is either bare ground or offers a LOW avalanche danger.

special announcement

Click here for a short viddy shout-out giving huge thanks to all of our great partners for helping to make this program so successful!

We are winding down the "winter that wasn't" and Sunday April 5th will be the last of our regularly scheduled advisories.

current conditions

Under clear skies and amazing moon, temperatures are in the teens and low 20's. Along the high ridges southerly winds increased around 3:00 Friday afternoon and are currently blowing 20-30 mph. Trailheads are toast and it's slow going til the surface snow softens. However, the few inches of snow that fell Tuesday night and again on Thursday have helped cushion some of the hard snow and cold, shallow powder is found on upper elevation north facing terrain.

Click here for real-time temperatures, snowfall, and winds.

Not a bad payoff. A couple bucks worth of gas...

... allow us to maintain our weather stations

... provide million dollar views

... and deliver us to tattoo worthy snow.

recent activity

On Friday, the only activity we saw was shallow sluffing on steep, shady slopes.

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 The Yin and Yang of spring produces weather on both ends of the spectrum. Record warmth the past few days, a couple quick hitting cold fronts, and the next thing you know temperatures are in the 20's. Yep... the snowpack is basically locked in place. While there's a predictable, "go anywhere" base, and a pretty straightforward avalanche danger, there are some things you want to consider in your travels the next few days- As the snow starts to heat up you'll want to think about changing the type of terrain you're riding on, especially if roller balls start cascading down the slope or you find yourself sinking into damp, unsupportable snow. Cornices have the potential to break back further than you might expect, so you'll want to avoid be around these unpredictable bus-sized pieces of snow, especially during the heat of the day. You need to avoid terrain traps like gullies and road cuts where even a small slide can quickly pile up cement-like, bone snapping debris. I shot this picture of Upper Weber Canyon whilst perched high in the saddle between Bald Mountain and Reids Peak. The lack of snow for the beginning of April is unprecedented.

type

aspect/elevation

characteristics

LIKELIHOOD

LIKELY

UNLIKELY

SIZE

LARGE

SMALL

TREND

INCREASING DANGER

SAME

DECREASING DANGER

over the next 24 hours

description

The Yin and Yang of spring produces weather on both ends of the spectrum. Record warmth the past few days, a couple quick hitting cold fronts, and the next thing you know temperatures are in the 20's. Yep... the snowpack is basically locked in place. While there's a predictable, "go anywhere" base, and a pretty straightforward avalanche danger, there are some things you want to consider in your travels the next few days-

As the snow starts to heat up you'll want to think about changing the type of terrain you're riding on, especially if roller balls start cascading down the slope or you find yourself sinking into damp, unsupportable snow.
Cornices have the potential to break back further than you might expect, so you'll want to avoid be around these unpredictable bus-sized pieces of snow, especially during the heat of the day.
You need to avoid terrain traps like gullies and road cuts where even a small slide can quickly pile up cement-like, bone snapping debris.

I shot this picture of Upper Weber Canyon whilst perched high in the saddle between Bald Mountain and Reids Peak. The lack of snow for the beginning of April is unprecedented.

weather

A mild southwest flow increases over the state today and tomorrow ahead of a cold front slated to swing through the region on Monday. In the meantime, we can expect southwest winds increasing into the 30's and 40's along the high ridges by days end. Temperatures soar into the upper 40's and we'll see high clouds drift into the area throughout the day. Light snow is expected for Monday, with a cool, moist system on tap for 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 Sunday Apr. 5, 2015 or sooner if conditions warrant.

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