Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains Issued by Craig Gordon for Thursday - April 5, 2018 - 3:01am
bottom line

In a sea of generally LOW avalanche danger, a MODERATE danger exists on steep wind drifted slopes at and above treeline , where a very isolated chance of triggering an unpredictably large avalanche still exists. The usual suspects include- steep, rocky terrain facing the north half of the compass, especially slopes with a thin, weak snowpack. Deep, dangerous, human triggered avalanches are POSSIBLE in terrain with these kind of characteristics.
special announcement

This Sunday April 8th will be the last of the regularly scheduled advisories for the western Uinta Mountains.
current conditions

After some late day clearing, high, thin clouds rolled into the region overnight and current temperatures are in the low to mid 20's. Southwest winds decreased the past few hours and blow in the teens along the high ridges. Riding and turning conditions are aspect dependant. South facing slopes offer smooth, suportable, corn-like conditions that, should soften later today. Whilst on the other half of the compass, shallow, soft snow is found on upper elevation wind sheltered, shady slopes.

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

Well this is a heck of a way to run a winter. Pictured above... a tale of two trailheads. Common theme... while still closed, they're both toast and dry for miles.

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

recent activity

No significant avalanche activity to report from yesterday.

A full list of 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

We haven't heard of any avalanche activity breaking to deeply buried weak layers for over a week now and that's good news. Of course, Monday nights cold snap helped weld the snowpack in place. Where the pack is deep, it's happy in its own skin. For the most part, I think these instabilities have gone dormant for the moment. However, I'm not ready to let my guard down where the pack has remained thin and weak all year. Prime suspects include steep, rocky, upper elevation terrain facing the north half of the compass, along with slopes that already avalanched this season.
weather


Pretty underwhelming weather 'til the weekend. In the meantime, expect cloudy skies, temperatures rising into the upper 30's, with west-southwest blowing in the 20's along the ridges. A better chance for snow develops Friday and then a legit looking storm for late Saturday and Sunday.
general announcements

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