Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains Issued by Craig Gordon for Monday - February 22, 2016 - 4:05am
bottom line

In the wind zone, at and above treeline, a MODERATE avalanche danger exists and human triggered slides are possible on steep, wind drifted slopes. While it's becoming more the exception than the rule, any avalanche that breaks to weak, sugary snow near the ground, has the potential to be deep and dangerous.

Wind sheltered terrain offers a generally LOW avalanche danger.




current conditions

Clouds are streaming into the region ahead of a little shot of snow forecast to slide through the area this morning. Temperatures are in the upper teens and northwest winds increased a few hours ago, they're blowing 15-30 mph along the high peaks. Most of the popular riding areas saw heavy traffic over the weekend and are pretty hammered, but with a little creative thinking and a longer approach you can still find untracked snow.

Trip reports and observations are found here.

recent activity

A few shallow, yet very manageable fresh drifts were noted along the leeward side of upper elevation ridges.

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

Manageable in size and predictably breaking at or below your skis, board, or sled, fresh wind drifts along the leeward side of upper elevation ridges are today's main avalanche concern. If you're travels take you into steep, unforgiving terrain, remember- even a small slide can easily boss you around and once triggered, has the potential to quickly ruin your day.

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 most of our terrain is turning the corner towards a homogenous, predictable snowpack, there's still isolated areas where strong, solid feeling snow rests on top of weak, sugary snow near the ground. Of course, our usual suspects come to mind, in particular, steep rocky terrain and slopes that previously avalanched during the Solstice Storm and have remained shallow all season. It's not full on green light conditions out there today and I'd continue to carefully evaluate any steep slope with these characteristics.

weather

A quick hitting storm delivers 3"-6" of snow along with gusty west and northwest winds with speeds in the 40's and 50's along the high ridges. Temperatures climb into the mid 20's and dip into the single digits overnight under clearing skies. High pressure builds for Tuesday giving us sunny skies, warming temperatures, and light winds through the end of the work week.

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 Tuesday, February 23rd.