Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains Issued by Craig Gordon for Monday - March 5, 2018 - 3:34am
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While not widespread, in upper elevation terrain, especially in the wind zone at and above treeline, the avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE. Human triggered avalanches are likely on steep wind drifted slopes facing the north half of the compass, particularly those with an easterly component to their aspect. An avalanche triggered today can quickly get out of hand if it breaks into weak layers of snow, now buried deeper in our snowpack.

Recent winds got into mid elevation terrain and you'll encounter a MODERATE avalanche danger on steep slopes with recent deposits of wind drifted snow.

LOW avalanche danger exists on lower elevation, wind sheltered terrain and on most slopes facing the south half of the compass.




current conditions

Yesterday's storm didn't quite materialize like we thought it would for the Uinta's, but one last gasp of snow deliverd a couple inches overnight bringing storm totals to just about 8". This morning, skies are clearing and temperatures near zero. Along the high ridges west and northwest winds bumped into the 40's and 50's rigfht around midnight, but calmed down in the last minute or two and are now blowing in the 20's and 30's. Ridng and turning conditions are quite good, particularly on mid elevation, wind sheltered slopes.

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

Bo and Ian were in Mill Hollow yesterday and found great ridng conditions and a relatively strong snowpack. More on itheir travels here.

You can find a great body of recent trip reports, observations, and snow data here.


recent activity

Micheal J was in Weber Canyon yesterday and triggered this 2' deep x 50' wide slab on a steep, northerly slope. Of note... this slide was triggered from a distance, while Micheal was skinning up an adjacent slope. It fits the recent trend of pockety avalanches that are failing near the late January rime crust. Not widespread, but worth banking in the cerebral hard drive, especially if you're getting into steep, committing terrain or slopes that runout into a group of baseball bats like in the image above.

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

This winters problem child, the persistent weakness now buried at varying depths within our snowpack, continues to wake up each time we add additional snow. While yesterday's storm wasn't enough weight to activate this layer on a widespread scale, I bet here's a few surprises lurking out there today. Prime suspects include terrain that has already avalanched this year along with a vast majority of steep, shady slopes that have remained thin and shallow this winter. Terrain with these characteristics remains suspect and should be considered guilty until proven otherwise. Sounds complicated, but the answer is easy. The way we manage unpredictable avalanche dragons is to simply avoid where they live. And now that south facing terrain has a snowpack, that's your exit strategy. Simply switch aspect, let the shady slopes settle and gain some strength and ride in the sun

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

Prior to the storm, winds were all over the place, forming stiff wind slabs on the leeward side of upper elevation ridges and around terrain features like chutes and gullies. Now with a little snow to conceal these hard slabs, today they'll be more difficulkt to detect. But one thing remains the same.... once triggered, today's drifts are gonna break deeper and wider than you might expect and they'll pack a punch. You can ride safely today by looking for and avoiding fat, rounded pillows of snow, especially if they sound hollow like a drum.

weather


Skies continue to clear, but a few lingering snow showers are possible, primarily this morning, as the storm system exits today. Northwest winds along the high peaks blow in the 30's and 40's and decrease throughout the day. High temperatures crack into the low 20's with overnight lows dipping into the single digits. High pressure builds over the region this week, with a warming and drying trend through Wednesday or Thursday.

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 March 6th, 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.