Lawinenlagebericht

Uintas

Utah Avalanche Center
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Lawinengefahr

  • Hochgebirge
  • Waldgrenze
  • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
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Veraltet — dieser Lagebericht ist 7 years ago abgelaufen. Du siehst vergangene Verhältnisse, nicht den aktuellen Bericht.

Kernpunkte

In the wind zone, at and above treeline, you'll find CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger. 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. Any avalanche that breaks into deeper buried weak layers near the ground will result in a deep, dangerous slide.

In mid elevation, wind drifted terrain you'll find MODERATE avalanche danger and human triggered avalanches are POSSIBLE.

Low elevation, low angle, wind sheltered terrain offers generally LOW avalanche danger.

Lawinenprobleme

  • Wind Slabs

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

    Winds started ramping up around midnight and are whipping up a fresh batch of drifts that'll react to our additional weight. Here's where it gets tricky.... yesterdays wind slabs will be hard to detect as they get covered over with today's newly formed drifts. The most important thing to remember is that another storm is on our doorstep and the avalanche hazard is evolving. That said.... you'll find today's drifts more widespread, more connected, and will break deeper than you might expect. As the storm materializes you'll wanna look for and avoid any fat, rounded piece of snow, especially if it sounds hollow like a drum.

    And don't forget-

    Cornices are ginormous and may break back further than you might expect. You definitely wanna give these large, unpredictable pieces of snow a wide berth and not ruin someones day below by inadvertently knocking a boxcar size piece of snow down on them

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Hochgebirge
    • Waldgrenze
    • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
    Wahrscheinlichkeit
    Unlikely
    Größe
    4

    We are trending in the right direction and recent snowpack stability tests along with the lack of avalanches failing on weak snow near the ground suggest we're turning the corner. Also streaming in from the good news department is this... most terrain where the snowpack is becoming thick and strong, deep dangerous avalanches are becoming harder to trigger. All encouraging news for sure, but we've got to remember there's a lot of terrain that makes up the landscape of the western Uinta range and I'm not entirely convinced all slopes are good to go. However, our theories will get tested as the next series of storms should add a substantial amount of snow and water and help us determine the strength of our deeply buried weak layers. In the meantime, let's reflect on how persistent weak layers work and remember that all I need to do is find a shallow, weak portion of the snowpack, perhaps around a rock or bush that I can't see underneath the snow, collapse the slope (whoomph), and now I'm staring down the barrel of a dangerous avalanche. What I don't know... where exactly these weak points exist in the snowpack, but steep rocky slopes are certainly high on the suspect terrain list and should be avoided today.

Recent Activity

Eastern front avalanche hunters Jason and Dave stomped around Upper Weber Canyon yesterday and found fresh wind slabs forming along the leeward side of upper elevation ridges (image pictured above). Reactive to the additional weight of a person, yesterday's slabs broke 12"-18" deep, failing on a layer of light density snow, and ran a surprisingly long distance. Dave noted.... "given the density of the new snow, the wind slabs were a bit more connected then would otherwise be expected with these wind speeds."

Recent trip reports and avy activity found HERE.

Snow and Weather

Another storm is on our door step and we already stacked up a few inches of snow overnight. Currently, under mostly cloudy skies, temperatures have cooled into the teens and low 20's, and light snow is falling. Southerly winds began ramping up around midnight and are blowing in the 30's along the high ridges. Riding and turning conditions are most excellent and wind sheltered terrain is the place to be today, where you'll be rewarded with soft, creamy snow.

Above is hourly data from Upper Moffit Basin (7,914') and Windy Peak (10,662'). To view more regional weather stations click here.

Additional Info

The graphic above pretty much tells the story... more snow is on the way! Snow develops this morning, continuing through early afternoon and should stack up in the 4"-6" range with an additional 4"-6" tonight as a cold front slides through the region. Southerly winds decrease later today and switch to the northwest with the arrival of colder air. Wind speeds remain reasonable... in the 20's and low 30's. High temperatures reach into the upper 20's and crash into the teens overnight.

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 9th, 2019.

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.

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