Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains Issued by Craig Gordon for Sunday - February 14, 2016 - 5:27am
bottom line

At and above treeline, a MODERATE avalanche danger exists and human triggered avalanches are possible on steep, shady slopes, especially those with recent deposits of wind drifted snow. Any avalanche that breaks to weak, sugary snow near the ground has the potential to be deep and dangerous.

Wind sheltered terrain under 30 degrees in slope steepness is the ticket for finding LOW avalanche danger.
special announcement

Join us next Tuesday for a companion rescue workshop hosted by our good friends at Weller Recreation. Should be a great time - Click here for more details and to register.

Sure... you wouldn't wanna meet this crew in a dark alley, but I'd like to give 'em all a big shout out for making Friday's Sled 101 at Wolf Creek Ranch a brilliant success. Rock on Sugi fam, Trent, Bo, Tyler, Austin, and Seth!
current conditions

A weak system is marching its way into northern Utah. Ahead of this quick one-hitter, temperatures are in the low to mid 20's and west-southwest winds ramped up overnight, they're currently blowing 30-50 mph along the high peaks. The snow surface is a mixed bag for sure... crusted snow on the sunny aspects and old tracks nearly everywhere. However, with a little bit of exploring you can still find soft settled snow on shady north facing slopes.

A little new snow would go a long way to help fill in old tracks and put a temporary hold on parking lot mud season. (Scroggin photos)

Trip reports and observations are found here.
recent activity

Dan Gardiner spotted this slab yesterday near Bald Mountain. Timing is uncertain, but it looks like this natural avalanche broke to old snow near the ground. (Gardiner photo)

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

Winds bumped up overnight and continue howling along the high peaks. While there's not that much snow to work with it, I'm always amazed how the Uinta's can find just enough loose snow to blow around and form fresh drifts sensitive to the additional weight of a rider. Today's slabs are gonna be shallow and easy to detect by their fat, rounded appearance. While predictably cracking around your skis, board, or sled remember that even a small slide can get quickly out of hand if it breaks to weak sugary snow near the ground.

Ted was in Whitney Basin yesterday, where the winds were busy at work, building shallow slabs along the leeward side of upper elevation ridges. More on his travels here.
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

While it's becoming harder to trigger a deep, dangerous avalanche, we're still finding places that have weak sugary snow near the ground with stronger, more dense snow resting on top. Steep terrain that faces the north half of the compass, at or above tree line, and particularly slopes that previously avalanched during the big Solstice Storm should be considered suspect and still need to be carefully evaluated.

This avalanche in upper Whitney Basin was triggered on Tuesday in a steep, rocky section of the slope. While it's becoming less likely to trigger a slide of this nature, a piece of snow this size can definitely ruin your day. (Kikkert photo)
weather

A fast moving system brings snow to the region this morning with a couple inches possible by this afternoon. Westerly winds remain strong, gusting into the 40's and 50's along the high peaks. High temperatures reach into the low and mid 30's with overnight lows dipping into the mid 20's. A few lingering snow showers are possible for Monday. A break in the action is slated for early in the week with a better shot of snow coming our way Thursday.
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 If Craig is unavailable you can reach his partner Trent at 801-455-7239, email [email protected] 

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 will be updated by 7:00 AM on Monday, February 15th.