Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains Issued by Craig Gordon for Saturday - March 4, 2017 - 3:38am
bottom line

At and above treeline in the wind zone, you'll find pockets of MODERATE avalanche danger. Human triggered avalanches are POSSIBLE on steep wind drifted slopes, facing the north half of the compass, especially slopes with an easterly component to their aspect.

Wind sheltered slopes in mid and lower elevations offer LOW avalanche danger.
current conditions

Skies are clear, temperatures have cooled into the 20's, and southwest winds are cranking 40-60 mph along the high peaks. Riding and turning conditions vary with aspect and elevation. Low and mid elevation sunny slopes developed a crust of varying thickness and are gonna be a bit funky. But gain a little elevation, swing around to the north half of the compass and seek out wind sheltered terrain, where you'll be rewarded with soft settled snow on a go anywhere kinda base.


Above... a good representation for southwest winds and overall snow depth. 24 hour data from Lofty Lake Peak and right next to it a very PHAT Trial Lake.

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

The east side shuffle... it's about as white as the Uinta's get. Ted was in Millcreek yesterday, on the eastern side of the range, and found a deep snowpack. More on his travels, insights, and of course wisdom are found here.

Snowpack observations and trip reports are found here.
recent activity


Above, Ted found this couple day old wind slab on a steep, cross-loaded chute on the east side of the range in Millcreek.

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

While the overall avalanche danger is trending towards LOW, the Uinta's are a big place and I bet there's a fresh, stiff, wind drift or two that'll react to our additional weight today. Confined to steep, leeward slopes in the wind zone, look for and avoid hard rounded pieces of snow, particulalry if they feel or sound hollow like a drum. Cross-loaded chutes, gullies, or bowl features are likely suspect terrain. Any avalanche triggered in terrain with these characteristics may be a little bigger than you bargained for. This is an easy avalanche problem to avoid. Simply lose a little elevation, get into wind sheltered terrain, and you lose the problem.

This is how wind drifts and cornices form. Pretty easy to see by the image above that winds have been blowing right to left, stripping the windward slopes down to sage and loading the leeward slopes, forming a slab that'll be reactive to our additioanl weight.

Pictured above... a perfect example how wind can channel snow into terrain features and crossload chutes and gullies.
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


Corni... they're ridiculous this year, stretch for miles along the ridges, and are breaking back further than you might expect. You definitely want to give these unpredictable boxcar monsters the respect they deserve.
weather

High clouds develop over the region and southwest winds become increasingly strong today into tomorrow, blowing into the 40's and 50's with gusts to 70 mph along the high ridges. Highs climb into the 40's with overnight lows right around freezing. A cold front slides through the area late Sunday afternoon or early evening and a foot of snow by Monday morning looks like a reasonable bet.
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 March 5th.