Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains Issued by Craig Gordon for Friday - January 12, 2018 - 3:20am
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HEADS UP... IT'S GONNA REMAIN TRICKY TODAY!

In the wind zone at and above treeline the avalanche danger is HIGH. Human triggered avalanches are likely on steep, wind drifted slopes, especially those facing the north half of the compass and particularly those with an easterly component to their aspect.

Mid elevation terrain is equally as spooky where you'll find CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger. Human triggered avalanches are probable on steep slopes with recent deposits of wind drifted snow.

Looking for LOW avy danger? Most mid and low elevation south facing slopes and terrain that held no snow prior to the Christmas Eve storm offer generally LOW avalanche danger.
current conditions

A weak storm slid through the area overnight delivering 5" of medium density snow. Skies are mostly cloudy, temperatures in the low to mid 20's and west-northwest winds blow in the 40's and 50's along the high peaks. Since Saturday. the range has accumulated 18" of snow with close to 2" of water. Most snow sites still register just over 3' of settled snow. While it's still super boney out there, riding and turning conditions have vastly improved the past few days.

Above are 24 hour temperatures and snow depth from Trial Lake. I'm have comms issues at some of our wind site locations and we'll try to get that ironed out today. More remote Uinta weather stations are found here

Recent trip reports and findings can be seen here.

recent activity

It was touchy yesterday and slides were easily initiated from adjacent terrain and low on the slope. Nearly all the activity revolves around weak sugary snow failing in the midpack or close to the ground. The other common theme is steep leeward slopes facing the north half of the compass. Click here to see recent avy activity. (Boyer/Kikkert photo)

Click here to see what's going on with our snowpack.
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

Winds ramped up last night and they've got plenty of fresh snow to work with. Today's most obvious avalanche hazard is both new and old drifts which are now covered over with our recent storm, making them hard to detect. Found mostly on the leeward side of upper elevation ridges, you need to look for and avoid any recent deposit of wind drifted snow, especially if it's fat and rounded or sounds hollow like a drum. Once triggered, today's drifts may quicly get out of hand, especially if they break into weak layers now buried deeper in our snowpack.

In the early stages of the storm we were dealing with shallow drifts like the one pictured above. Today's slabs are the bigger, bigger brother version... breaking deeper and wider than you might expect.
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


We finally added enough weight for avalanches to begin breaking into weak layers of snow buried in our midpack. While we haven't seen a widespread natural avalanche cycle, many steep slopes remain in the balance today, just waiting for a trigger like us to roll up and knock the legs out from underneath it. Making the current setup even more tricky is the continued possibility of triggering a slide from low on the slope, from a distance, or even from an adjacent slope. ​(Boyer/Kikkert photo)

All of this doesn't mean you can't ride. It does mean you need to stay off of and out from under steep, wind drifted slopes. By now you know the usual suspects to avoid... steep, upper elevation, shady slopes, especially those facing the north half of the compass.
weather


A weak storm slides through the area through this afternoon giving us another couple inches of snow. West and northwest winds blow in the 40's along the ridges this morning, but diminish as the day wares on. High temperatures reach into the low 30's and overnight lows dip into the teens under clearing skies. High pressure builds for the weekend with sunny skies and warming temperatures. Next shot for accumulating snow looks to be later Tuesday into Wednesday.
general announcements

The information in this advisory expires 24 hours after the date and time posted, but will be updated by 7:00 AM Saturday January 13, 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.