Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains Issued by Craig Gordon for Wednesday - December 9, 2015 - 4:22am
bottom line

In general most terrain throughout the range offers a LOW avalanche danger.

However, in the wind zone at and above treeline, the avalanche danger is MODERATE. While not widespread, human triggered avalanches are possible, on steep, wind drifted slopes facing the north half of the compass.
special announcement

This advisory expires 24 hours after the date and time posted. While I'm on the west coast this weekend sharing our Know Before You Go Program with Avalanche Educators in California...

... long time listener, first-time caller, and newest member of the UAC team, Trent Meisenheimer (seen here sporting a stylish Avy Center mother-trucker ball cap) will update this advisory by 7:00 AM Saturday Dec. 12th.
current conditions

A fresh coat of dense, white paint arrived Monday night, but the 2" storm total hasn't changed the landscape much. With total snow depths right around 18" throughout the range, it's still really thin out there. West and southwest winds are blowing 20-30 mph along the ridges, ushering in unusually warm temperatures in the mid to upper 30's.

Yikes... the Uinta's are kinda thin.

Best bet is sticking to road rides or low angle grassy meadows. If there's a lump in the snow, chances are there's a sled wrecking rock hidden underneath.

Recent trip reports and observations are found here.
recent activity

No new avalanche activity to report.

See or trigger an avalanche? Shooting cracks? Hear a collapse? It's simple. Go here to fill out an observation.
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

Man... it's warm this morning! Don't get me wrong... it's a good thing. While the mild weather might not bode well for snow tire sales or winter activities in general, the pre-existing snowpack is psyched, because these temperatures combined with cloud cover are helping to keep some strength and structure in our snowpack. Until it starts storming, avalanche conditions are rather benign because the thing we're missing right now is a cohesive, connected slab.

Heads up- with a couple storms headed our way, expect a rising avalanche danger, especially later this week. Trent put together a viddy overview of current conditions. Click here to view.

Old snow... no snow. The bowl to the right might be bushy, but that's exactly the kind of terrain we wanna choose once winter does kick into gear because there's no pre-existing weak snow for avalanches to fail on.

Click here to view more Uinta observations and trip reports.
weather

Expect warm and windy conditions as a fast-moving system crosses the region today, bringing with it a quick shot of dense snow tonight. Temperatures climb into the 40's and southwest winds ramp up through the day, blowing into the 40's and 50's by sunset. We might be able to squeeze 4" of snow out of this system and then it looks like a larger, colder storm is on tap for Thursday night. Unfortunately, it looks to swing through the region rather quickly, but I'm cautiously optimistic this storm will get our season going.
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]. To register for the first in our series of on-the-snow sled specific classes you can register here.

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.

The information in this advisory expires 24 hours after the date and time posted, but be will be updated by 7:00 AM on Saturday, December 12th.