Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains Issued by Craig Gordon for Saturday - February 18, 2017 - 4:07am
bottom line

In the wind zone, on steep leeward slopes facing the north half of the compass, you'll find MODERATE avalanche danger. Both new and old wind drifts will react to our additional weight and human triggered avalanches are possible. Once triggered, today's avalanches may pack more of a punch than you might expect.

Wind sheltered terrain and most slopes facing the south half of the compass offer LOW avalanche danger.
current conditions

Last nights storm rolled through the region just about dinnertime, delivering an evenly distributed 4" of medium density snow. Southwest winds ramped into 70's overnight, but have relaxed somewhat, currently blowing 30-50 mph. It's gonna be a mixed bag today with lots of old tracks on the usual suspect slopes and dust on crust elsewhere. However with a little effort, wind sheltered, shady slopes offer cold, creamy snow.


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

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

Miles o' fresh ROY... it'll get ya where ya need to go in a hurry!

Snowpack observations and trip reports are found here.
recent activity

Nothing earth shattering in this department, but a few pockety fresh wind drifts were reported on steep, leeward slopes yesterday... otherwise pretty quiet on the eastern front.

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

Southwest winds cranked overnight and now they've got some snow to work with. I bet yesterday's small and predictable drifts have grown into a larger and more connected big brother, and once triggered, today's slabs could easily show you who's boss. Fortunately, we can manage today's avalanche dragon by avoiding the problem. Found mostly along the leeward side of upper elevation ridges and around terrain features like chutes, gullies, or sub-ridges, it's a good day to look for and avoid any fat, rounded piece of snow, especially if it sounds or feels hollow like a drum.

Here's a short viddy explaining the setup for the next couple of days.
weather

Expect mostly cloudy skies with southwest winds blowing in the 40's and 50's. Temperatures rise into the upper 30's with overnight lows dipping into the 20's. A weak impulse slides through the region tonight, delivering a couple inches of snow. Another and perhaps stronger system is on tap for Sunday night.

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 19th.