Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains Issued by Craig Gordon for Sunday - December 20, 2015 - 5:17am
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At and above treeline, a MODERATE avalanche danger exists on steep, wind drifted terrain facing the north half of the compass. Human triggered avalanches are possible, particularly on slopes with an easterly component to their aspect. Any slide triggered today has the potential to break wider and deeper than you might expect, resulting in a dangerous avalanche.

Low elevations and terrain sheltered from the wind generally offers a LOW avalanche danger.




avalanche watch

HEADS UP-

THE FOREST SERVICE UTAH AVALANCHE CENTER IN SALT LAKE CITY HAS ISSUED A BACKCOUNTRY AVALANCHE WATCH.

* TIMING...SUNDAY INTO SUNDAY NIGHT...THEN TRANSITIONING TO AN AVALANCHE WARNING BY LATER MONDAY. *

AFFECTED AREA...ALL THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTHERN UTAH AND SOUTHEASTERN IDAHO, TO INCLUDE THE BEAR RIVER RANGE, THE WESTERN UINTAS AND THE MANTI-SKYLINE PLATEAU.

* AVALANCHE DANGER...EXPECTED HEAVY SNOW AND STRONG WIND WILL PUSH THE DANGER TO HIGH AND PERHAPS EXTREME OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS.

* IMPACTS...BY LATER MONDAY INTO TUESDAY, LARGE AND DANGEROUS NATURAL AND HUMAN TRIGGERED AVALANCHES WILL BE LIKELY. AVOID BEING IN STEEP TERRAIN OR BENEATH AVALANCHE RUNOUT ZONES.

current conditions

Yesterday's trailer tipping southerly winds finally relaxed around 2:00 this morning and are currently blowing 25-35 mph along the high peaks. Temperatures are rather mild, in the upper teens and mid 20's. A fast moving storm system is sliding into the region and should clip the Uintas in the next few hours, delivering a couple inches of snow.

With total snow depths in the 24"- 30" range, it's still pretty thin out there. Ted's travels took him to Lofty and Steiner Lakes yesterday. His trip report as well as other observations are found here.

recent activity

Beautiful avalanche photos above shot by Johnny Adolphson

Wednesday night's raging winds tipped the scales, resulting in numerous avalanches breaking deep, wide, and to the ground. A quick viddy recap is found here

Recent avalanche observations are found here.

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

The snowpack is pretty comfortable in its own skin right now and the recent warm temperatures helped the pack adjust to Wednesday nights big winds. I haven't heard of any avalanche activity since Thursday and that's good news. While I think it'll be harder to trigger a slide today, if you do, chances are it's gonna break to the ground, revealing a vast array of season ending obstacles. Steep, rocky slopes facing the north half of the compass is suspect terrain and should be treated guilty until proven otherwise.

Looking into the future... our snowpack is a weak, sugary mess and it's not going to take much of a load before the range comes unglued. With a series of warm, wet, windy storms slated to move into the region next week I expect avalanche danger to rise, with dangerous avalanche conditions developing late Monday and Tuesday.

You call that an avalanche? Well, I guess technically it is... more importantly Ted snapped this image clearly illustratrating just how weak our current snowpack is.

Now take that same weak snow, add some wind like we did Wednesday night, put a cohesive slab on top, and now you've got an avalanche. This is the setup we're dealing with this coming week.

weather

After this mornings quick hitter, we see a break, and then another similar looking system slides through the region tonight. Southwest winds remain pretty tolerable, blowing 15-25 mph with a few gusts in the mid 30's along the high ridges. Temperatures climb into the mid 20's before dipping into the teens overnight. The main event begins Monday night into Tuesday. We can expect strong winds, heavy snow, and lots of water. Check back here in the morning, I'll have a better feel for timing with tomorrows update.

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 Monday, December 21st.