Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains Issued by Craig Gordon for Friday - March 16, 2018 - 3:05am
bottom line

In mid and upper elevation terrain, especially in the wind zone at and above treeline, the avalanche danger is MODERATE. Human triggered, dry snow avalanches are POSSIBLE 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.

A MODERATE avalanche danger also exists for human triggered wet avalanches on southerly facing slopes at mid and lower elevations. Human triggered avalanches are possible on steep, sun baked slopes, especially as temperatures rise and the day wares on.




special announcement

We couldn't get out on the snow without the great support from Polaris, Ski Doo, and Arctic Cat as well as KTM and Timbersled. Our local dealers make it happen. Tri-City Performance, Weller Recreation, Northstar's Ultimate Outdoors, Big Pine and Morgan Valley Polaris. We use these machines to monitor the snowpack across the state of Utah. We also use these machines to teach life-saving classes.

current conditions

Skies are partly cloudy, helping overnight temperatures dive into the teens and low 20's. After an early evening lull, southwest winds are increasing into the 20's and 30's along the high ridges. Thursday's storm delivered 10" of dense, spongy snow to the Trial Lake area while most other terrain were in the 6" range. None-the-less, the Govener has given the snowpack a stay of execution and snow conditions are a complete 180 from earlier in the week. Today, you'll want to head to mid elevation wind sheltered slopes and you'll be rewarded with soft, surfy snow.

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

A great body of recent trip reports, observations, and snow data here.


recent activity

No significant new avalanche activity to report

A list of recent avalanches 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

The persitent slab and the buried weaknesses in the mid and lower portions of the snowpack.continue to be our curious, yet irrational problem child. Persitent slabs are complicated because not every slope is gonna be reactive to our additional weight. This is the kind of snowpack setup that allows us to put tracks on some slopes and feel good about stability, while other slopes break above us. When unpredictable and unmanageable avalanche conditions exist, we avoid where they live. Steep, mid and upper elevation terrain facing the north half of the compass are prime suspects as are slopes that already avalanched this season. So here's your exit strategy... if you're looking for soft snow and safe riding, simply tone down your slope angles and avoid terrian with steep slopes hanging above you.

Breaking to weak layers of snow in the midpack or near the ground, the image above is the type of avalanche dragon we're dealing with today.

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

Steep, sunny slopes will take on heat today and become reactive the strong sunshine and rising temperatures. As the day progresses you'll want to consider bailing from steep terrain if it gets too damp, manky, or especially if it feels like the bottom is falling out. Starting out as a small, point release, a wet avalanche can gouge deeper into the snowpack as it descends, stacking up a huge pile of bone twisting debris.

weather

High pressure ushers in a drying and warming trend today. Look for partly cloudy skies with temperatures rising into the low 30's and overnight lows dipping into the 20's. Clouds thicken late in the day and winds increase tonight ahead of the next storm system, which crosses the region Saturday through Sunday. It looks like 6"-8" of snow is a good bet by Sunday morning.

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 March 17th, 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.