Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains Issued by Craig Gordon for Saturday - March 5, 2016 - 4:29am
bottom line

While the avalanche danger is generally LOW, pockets of MODERATE avalanche danger exist on steep, upper elevation, leeward slopes, especially those facing the north half of the compass. Remember- any avalanche that fails on weak, sugary snow near the ground, has the potential to break deeper and wider than you might expect.




current conditions

Skies are partly cloudy, and man it's mild this morning with temperatures in the low to mid 30's. Southerly winds increased around 8:00 last night and are currently blowing 25-35 mph along the high peaks. The snowpack received a very shallow refreeze, so if you're after supportable corn... get on it early, cause it's gonna be a short-lived commodity today.

Yikes... warm temperatures and an unusally dry February has brought on an early onset to Uinta mud season. (Scroggin photo)

My partner in crime Trent Meisenheimer buffing out the Noblett's Beacon Basin, whilst keeping the sun out of his eyes with a stylish UAC mother trucker cap.

Uinta weather station network info is found here.

Trip reports and observations are found here.

recent activity

No new avalanche activity to report.

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

Most of our wind drift issues seem pretty well behaved and predictable. Of course, if you're getting into steep, unforgiving, radical terrain remember- even a small slide can knock you off your feet or sled and take you for a fast, body bruising ride into trees or over a cliff band. Found on steep, leeward slopes in the wind zone, above treeline, today's shallow slabs are easy to detect by their fat, rounded appearance and easy to avoid. Simply lose a little elevation and you'll lose the problem.

In our travels on the south half of the range yesterday, we noticed a few drifts on the leeward side of upper elevation terrain.

Less predictable, is any slide that fails on weak, sugary snow near the ground, or what we call persistent slabs. Remember- persistent slabs have the potential to break deeper and wider than you might expect. Steep, rocky terrain facing the north half of the compass and particularly slopes that avalanched near the ground earlier this season should be considered suspect.

Steep, rocky, thin, and weak... this is the kind of terrain where you could still trgger a slide that breaks to weak snow near the ground today. (Scroggin photo)

weather

Today we can expect thickening clouds, warm temperatures, and strong winds, all ahead of a good looking system slated to impact the region on Sunday. In the meantime, temperatures rise into the 40's, and southerly winds crank in the 50's along the high ridges. Snow develops early Sunday and a cold front slides through the region in the morning. Storm snow stacks up through the day with nearly a foot by Monday morning.

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 Sunday, March 6th.