Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains Issued by Craig Gordon for Sunday - March 5, 2017 - 4:18am
bottom line

On steep, mid and upper elevation wind drifted slopes facing the north half of the compass, you'll find MODERATE avalanche danger and human triggered avalanches are POSSIBLE.

Wind sheltered slopes at mid and lower elevations as well as most south facing terrain offers generally LOW avalanche danger.
current conditions

Skies are clear and temperatures balmy, in the mid 20's and low 30's. Of course, the house rockin'... earth shockin'... heart stoppin'... southwest winds are still cranking 40-60 mph along the high ridges. Riding and turning conditions vary with aspect and elevation and are a bit hit or miss. 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 late last week, on the eastern side of the range, and found a deep snowpack. More on his travels, insights, and wisdom are found here.

Snowpack observations and trip reports are found here.
recent activity


Yesterday, a few isolated wind slabs, breaking a foot or so deep, were reported in steep, upper elevation, leeward terrain.

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

Wind.... and lots of it! As a matter of fact, wind was invented in the Uinta's and for over a day, the range has been getting a huge return on its initial investment. And it never ceases to amaze me that just when I think there's not enough snow to blow around, the unique terrain features of the western Uinta's channel wind, load leeward slopes, and create drifts that are sensitive to our additional weight. With southwest winds continuing to crank in the 50's and 60's, I bet today's drifts are becoming more widespread and more connected, meaning they're gonna break deeper and wider than you might expect. Today you'll want to look for and avoid hard rounded pieces of snow, particularly 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. The good news is... this is an easy avalanche problem to avoid. Simply lose some elevation, get into wind sheltered terrain, and you begin to 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

Clouds increase and southwest winds gust into the 60's and 70's throughout the day ahead of a cold front expected to arrive early this evening. Highs reach into the 40's and then crash into the single digits tonight after the front passes. A quick burst of snow delivers a foot for Monday morning. Scattered snow showers linger into Monday with warmer weather on tap for Tuesday and Wednesday.

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 Monday March 6th.