Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains Issued by Craig Gordon for Monday - January 8, 2018 - 3:48am
bottom line

While more the exception than the rule, pockets of MODERATE avalanche danger exist at and above treeline. Human triggered avalanches are possible on steep, rocky, wind drifted slopes particularly those facing the north half of the compass.

Mid and low elevation terrain, most south facing slopes, and terrain that held no snow prior to the Christmas Eve storm offer generally LOW avalanche danger.
special announcement

We still have a few open slots available for this weeks Motorized Backcountry 101 Workshop. Click here for more details and to register.

Big thanks to Salt Valley Snowmobile Club for sponsoring and maintaining this beacon checker at Soapstone. Not hard to miss and it's up and running in the main parking lot.
current conditions

Clouds are spilling into the area ahead of a series of storms slated to impact the region through Wednesday. In the mean-time, temperatures register in the mid 20's and low 30's, and southwest winds are blowing in the teens. Saturday's storm delivered 4" of dense, spongy snow, vastly improving the riding conditions.

Above are 24 hour temperatures and snow depth from Trial Lake along with winds and temperatures from Windy Peak. More remote Uinta weather stations are found here

Recent trip reports and findings can be seen here.

recent activity

No new avalanches to report. Click here to see recent avy activity.
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

It's been pretty quiet on the eastern front the past few days, but with a mulitday storm on tap, the avalanche hazard will begin to change. And here's why... on shady slopes facing the north half of the compass, we've got a complex snowpack. It's structure is unusual because not only do we have weak faceted snow, there's a few crusts thrown in the mix and they're sandwiched in between this mini house of cards. While this "persistent slab" issue has remained dormant for nearly a week, I bet it'll come back to life once winds start howling and we stack up some snow and water weight.

Sure, I think you'd be hard pressed to trigger an avalanche of any significance today, but remember the Uinta's are a big range. I bet there's a wind drifted slope or two that just needs to be tickled in the right place and it'll come to life. By now you know the usual suspects to avoid... steep, rocky, upper elevation slopes, especially those facing the north half of the compass

He's back! JG's beautifully detailed snowpit clearly illustrates our problem child buried in the midpack.

weather

The beginning of a wet and unsettled pattern begins later this afternoon. Today look for increasing clouds with snow developing late in the day. Temperatures rise into the upper 30's and southwest winds ramp up into the 30's and 40's by days end. Several rounds of snow are expected over the next few days. Tonight and Tuesday we should see a couple inches stack up on southwest flow. The winds shift to northwest and it'll be much colder by Wednesday, that's when we can expect greater accumulations.
general announcements

The information in this advisory expires 24 hours after the date and time posted, but will be updated by 7:00 AM Tuesday January 9, 2018.

If you're getting out and about, please let me know what you're seeing especially if you see or trigger and avalanche. I can be reached at [email protected] or 801-231-2170

It's also a good time to set up one of our very popular avalanche awareness classes. Reach out to me and I'll make it happen.

This information does not apply to developed ski areas or highways where avalanche control is normally done. This advisory is from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.