Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains Issued by Craig Gordon for Friday - March 31, 2017 - 3:36am
bottom line

At and above treeline in the wind zone, pockets of MODERATE avalanche danger exist. Human triggered avalanches are POSSIBLE on steep, wind drifted slopes, especially those with a westerly component to their aspect.

Wind sheltered low and mid elevation terrain offers generally LOW avalanche danger.
special announcement

On Wednesday, we found million dollar views, miles of smiles, amazing terrain, and great snow... all provided by Park City Powder Cats and their very generous, annual donation to the Utah Avalanche Center. Huge thanks to PCPC for all the amazing support and a big shout out to Ron, Johnny, Chris and the entire crew for hosting this bitchin' day... y'all rock :)
current conditions

Under mostly cloudy skies, light snow is falling and we've got a fresh coat of paint for the eastern front. This is a North Slope favored storm with 10" stacking up so far... the south end of the range clocks in with about half that amount. Current temperatures are in the 20's and east-northeast winds are blowing 10-20 mph along the high ridges. On a go-anywhere base, excellent riding and turning conditions await, especially on mid and upper elevation north facing slopes. Get after it before the winds do!

Above... 24 hour winds from Windy Peak (10,166') and the Trail Lake snotel site (9,992')

Real time temperatures, snowfall and wind for the western Uintas are found here.

Snowpack observations and trip reports are found here.
recent activity


It's been pretty quiet on the eastern front with no new avalanches reported the past couple days.

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

With a few shallow and predictable fresh slabs along the leeward side of upper elevation ridges, this mornings avalanche danger is straight-forward and predictable. The thing to keep an eye on today are the winds. Not only are they expected to ramp up, they'll be blowing out of the east and northeast... an unusual direction for us. That means fresh slabs will build on slopes with a westerly component to their aspect. While I think this problem is mostly confined to upper elevation slopes in the wind zone, there might be a drift or two lurking around a mid elevation terrain feature like a chute or gully wall. In either case, take a moment and re-evaluate your terrain choices especially if your jumping from drainiage to drainage or getting into steep, committing terrain. As always, look for and avoid any fat, rounded piece of snow, especially if it feels or sounds hollow like a drum.
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


While today's corni might not be overly sensitive, these boxcar monsters are completely unpredictable and should definitely be avoided.
weather

Yesterday's storm is diving south to the four corners and that's not a good setup for us. Expect on again-off again snow showers with temperatures rising into the low 30's. Spoiler alert... east and northeast winds ramp up as the day wares on and will be blowing in the 30's and 40's by about dinnertime. High pressure builds for the weekend with another system on tap for late Sunday/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 Saturday April 1st.