Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains Issued by Craig Gordon for Thursday - April 7, 2016 - 3:56am
bottom line

The avalanche danger is generally LOW and human triggered avalanches are unlikely.
special announcement

We're starting to wrap things up for the season and this Sunday April 10th will be the last of our regularly scheduled advisories.
current conditions

Skies remained clear overnight, but temperatures are 10 degrees warmer this morning than yesterday at this time. Currently, most mid and upper elevation weather stations are registering in at 25 to 30 degrees. Winds are light and northerly, blowing just 10-20 mph even along the high peaks. Trailheads are starting to melt out and getting around right now is kinda rugged. While a few patches of soft, settled snow still exist on high elevation north facing slopes, I think hitting the south half of the compass is a more reliable bet, where smooth melt-freeze surface snow awaits on all sunny slopes. With warmer temperatures on tap, today's corn harvest might be a bit more short-lived than yesterday.

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

We're starting the day out quite a bit warmer and the snow surface isn't going to be as rock solid as yesterday. None-the-less, clear skies helped lock things up and for much of the day I think the avalanche danger will remain generally LOW. However, it's not full-on, no brainer conditions and you'll want to remember to not overstay your welcome on steep sunny slopes. As the surface snow heats up or if you find yourself sinking into damp, manky snow, simply move on to a cooler aspect that isn't getting baked by the intense April sun. Also, think about avoiding terrain traps like gullies or steep roads cuts, especially during the heat of the day, when even a small, seemingly harmless avalanche can stack up a surprising amount of cement-like debris.

Cornices have grown large and can break a little further back than you might expect.
weather

High pressure over the region produces sunny skies with temperatures climbing into the low 50's today. North and northeast winds remain light, blowing 10-20 mph along the ridges. Overnight lows dip to near freezing. Warmer yet on Friday with increasing clouds and wind late in the day. We're still looking at a prolonged period of moist and unsettled weather beginning Friday night or early Saturday morning and continuing through much of next week. A mild airmass keeps snow levels and snow densities on the higher side through at least the first half of the 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 Friday, April 8th.