Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains Issued by Craig Gordon for Friday - February 10, 2017 - 3:27am
bottom line

With high elevation rain in the forecast, human triggered wet avalanches are possible and a MODERATE avalanche danger is found on all aspects and all elevations

In addition, a MODERATE avalanche danger exists for fresh wind drifts along the ridges and on steep wind sheltered terrain facing the north half of the compass where you could still trigger a slide that breaks to weak snow now buried several feet deep.
special announcement

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current conditions

Skies are cloudy, temperatures in the 30's and 40's, and southwest winds are cranking into the 70's along the high peaks. The riding and turning conditions are a bit underwhelming... perhaps a good day to get projects done and wait for the storm to arrive.


Above... 24 hour data from Lofty Lake Peak.

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

Ted was in Whitney basin yesterday and in some places you could barely leave a trackmark in the snow. More on his travels here.

Snowpack observations and trip reports are found here.
recent activity


Cornices.... they're YUUUUUGE... and they're breaking unexpectedly along the ridges. In addition, slabs of snow are peeling off of roofs.

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

A shallow overnight refreeze coupled with rain and continued warm temperatures today, will create damp, manky conditions on nearly all aspects and elevations. Today, avoid any steep slope that feels unsupportable or punchy and steer clear of terrain traps like gullies and road cuts where wet, heavy, cement-like debris can stack up very deeply.

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

Cornices have grown extremely large and recent warm temperatures are turning these boxcar monsters into unpredictable beasts. Once released, a cornice crashing down on the slope below can easily trigger an avalanche, entraining more snow then you might've bargained for and stacking up large piles of tree snapping debris.

As the storm starts to materializes and snow stacks up, wind drifts will form on the leeward side of upper elevation ridges and around terrain features like chutes and gullies. I suspect today's drifts won't become an issue until later in the day, but you'll definitely want to be aware of changing conditions and avoid any fat, rounded piece of snow, especially if it sounds or feels hollow like a drum.
Avalanche Problem 3
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

I didn't find any weak faceted snow or surface hoar in my recent travels, but Mark's informative viddy explaining the setup on mid elevation, sheltered terrain clearly illustrates the tricky nature of a persistent buried weak layer. Found on the north half of the compass and now buried several feet deep, I don't think we're done with this problem but with a little homework, by digging around you can easily identify slopes that have a suspect snowpack and simply avoid them.

weather

Low to mid elevation rain and high elevation snow become widespread this morning ahead of a cold front forecast to slide through our region late in the day. In the meantime, temperatures remain in the mid 40's and southwest winds crank into the 50's and 60's along the ridges. Overnight lows dip into the 20's, the storm kicks in, and we can expect about a foot of snow by midday Saturday. The storm exits the area tomorrow afternoon and high pressure builds into early next 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]

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 Saturday February 11th.