Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains Issued by Craig Gordon for Saturday - February 4, 2017 - 4:33am
bottom line

In the wind zone at and above treeline, pockets of CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger exist and human triggered avalanches are likely on steep, leeward slopes.

MODERATE avalanche danger is found on steep, shady slopes at mid and lower elevations and human triggered avalanches are POSSIBLE. Remember- any avalanche that breaks to weaker snow, now buried a couple feet deep in the snowpack will get out of hand quickly, resulting in a dangerous slide.

Terrain facing the south half of the compass offers LOW avalanche danger.




special announcement

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current conditions

A nice shot of snow for the eastern front with most locations receiving 4", but Trial Lake overachieves registering 8". Temperatures are balmy... in the upper 20's and mid 30's. Along the high ridges, west and southwest winds have blown in the 30's and 40's for the past 24 hours. Despite the recent winds, excellent riding and turning conditions are found on wind sheltered, shady slopes.


24 hour run of Windy Peak wind data above.

Real time wind, snow, and temperatures for the Uinta's are found here

Snowpack observations and trip reports are found here.

recent activity

Steep, leeward slopes were reactive to the additional weight of a person and sensitive drifts breaking up to a foot deep were reported.

A full list of Uinta avalanche activity is found here.

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

Surface hoar and near surface facets-

On the north half of the compass, a fragile layer of surface hoar and weak, sugary, near surface facets were preserved and buried prior to the big January storm cycle. Suspect terrain includes mid and low elevation creek bottoms and terrain features where cold air pools. These weak layers are now buried a couple feet deep in our snowpack. Additional snow and wind could bring these dormant layers back to life. It's a deceptive setup for sure, but it doesn't have to be a roll of the dice. With a little homework, by digging around you can easily identify slopes that have a suspect snowpack and simply avoid them.

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

Winds continued to move a lot of snow around overnight. On the leeward side of upper elevation ridges and around terrain features like chutes and gullies, todays fresh drifts will react to our additional weight and will break deeper than you'd expect. Before getting into steep, committing terrain, stomp on a few road cuts similar in aspect, elevation, and slope angle to what you wanna ride and see how they're reacting.

Yesterday's winds rapidly loaded the leeward side of upper elevation ridges. (Brown photo)

weather

Snow showers continue through the morning with a couple additional inches expected. West and southwest winds blow in the 30's and 40's along the ridges, decreasing as the day wares on. High temperatures rise into the mid 30's and dip into the 20's overnight. A break in the action for Sunday with the next system on tap for Sunday night through Monday.

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]

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 February 5th.