Lawinenlagebericht

Uintas

Utah Avalanche Center
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Lawinengefahr

  • Hochgebirge
  • Waldgrenze
  • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
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Veraltet — dieser Lagebericht ist last year abgelaufen. Du siehst vergangene Verhältnisse, nicht den aktuellen Bericht.

Kernpunkte

Today's forecast is written by guest forecaster, Joey Manship.

In the windzone, at and above treeline, the avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE. Human triggered avalanches breaking into fresh wind drifted snow are LIKELY, especially in steep terrain on leeward slopes. With strong winds and a solid dump of snow, today's wind slab avalanches can knock you off your feet and ruin your day.

Out of the wind zone you can expect a more straightforward, MODERATE avalanche hazard. Today's new snow avalanches will predictably break at your feet or ski. While more “manageable” in size, human triggered avalanches are POSSIBLE and should still be treated with respect as they might break wider, and run farther than you expect due to the slick bed surface they sit on.

At low elevations, where the season snowpack has mostly, or completely dwindled, you can find a generally LOW avalanche hazard. Keep your eye out for changing conditions as snow stacks up today.

Lawinenprobleme

  • Wind Slabs

    • Hochgebirge
    • Waldgrenze
    • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
    Wahrscheinlichkeit
    Likely
    Größe
    2

    For the past 36 hours winds have blown 20-35 MPH gusting into the 40’s from nearly every direction on the compass. Coupled with 8-10” of storm snow, we’ve got ideal conditions to create fresh wind drifts, sensitive to our additional weight.

    Here's where it gets tricky, today's drifts lay on top of a slick crust that formed during last week's heat spell. This means today's wind slabs could be easy to trigger, break wider than expected, and run farther than you might think.

    The key to avoiding a wind slab problem is to lose the wind. Today I’m avoiding steep leeward slopes that appear fat, rounded, and pillowy in nature. I’m heading to mid elevation, wind sheltered terrain where I know I can avoid this problem and find the best riding.

    Take a look at this video of wind moving snow all over this rock face, not just at the top of the slope.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Hochgebirge
    • Waldgrenze
    • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
    Wahrscheinlichkeit
    Unlikely
    Größe
    2

    We haven’t seen an avalanche breaking on our persistent weak layer since mid month, but the last 24 hours of storminess may be enough to tip the scales. While pits and reports suggest this weakness is both hard to find and hard to trigger, as we move through the next few days let’s keep this layer on our minds and store it as guilty until proven otherwise. To hedge our bets here are some points to consider when dealing with this problem:

    • Steep, rocky slopes with a shallow snowpack are prime suspects.

    • This problem exists in a small and isolated, or pockety, portion of our terrain and is easily avoidable.

    • Big triggers can produce big avalanches -- Watch out for cornice failure or rapid change... anything that could help pry out one of these nasty slides.

    • When entering suspect terrain bring your A game. Be prepared with the right partners and the right plan. Most importantly think about the consequences of being caught in a slide that breaks deeper and wider than you might expect.

Special Announcement

The final report for the Hoyt Peak avalanche accident on March 7th has been published and is available, here.

Motorized Users—Please consider taking this 5-minute survey to help researchers better understand avalanche education participation and safety preparedness. Responses are anonymous and confidential.

Recent Activity

No new avalanches to report from yesterday, but judging by the strong winds and heavy snowfall, I bet natural avalanches occurred late yesterday and overnight on steep wind drifted slopes.

Check out our observation from yesterday to see what conditions were like as the storm rolled in. HERE.

The east face of Mt. Watson being wind loaded during yesterday afternoons strong southwest winds.

Snow and Weather

Nowcast: Overnight we picked up 8-10” of snow and .6-1” of water and it is still snowing. Temperatures at trailheads sit in the low twenties, at the mid and upper elevations they register in the teens. Overnight southwest winds blew in the 20-35 MPH range with gusts in the 40’s, in the wee hours of the morning wind speeds decreased into the teens and shifted to the west northwest. Wind chill values will be as low as -6°F! Just like that we are back to winter! Forecast: For today expect winds to decrease slightly and blow from the west and north. Temperatures rise into the low twenties up high, and just below freezing at the trailheads. We will see continued snowfall with another 5” possible throughout the day. Watch for changing conditions if snowfall rates pick up. Futurecast: Stormy conditions persist through the week, keeping riding fresh. The sun starts showing its facing on Friday with more clearing throughout the weekend. Travel and Riding Conditions: With medium density snow on top and a supportable base underneath, riding conditions are greatly improved. At lower elevations don’t be fooled by the fresh white coat of paint, many slopes at lower elevations have either lost a lot of snow depth or are completely melted out.

General Announcements

We are always looking for snow and avalanche observations or just general riding conditions. In the meantime reach out to us with questions, concerns, or if you see anything in your travels! Contact us directly through the info below:

This forecast is from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This forecast describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur. This forecast was issued on Tuesday, April 1st at 06:00 AM and expires 24 hours after it was issued.

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