Uintas

Paddling out in a sea of green avy danger, I need to remind myself, there are still a few migrating sharks to keep an eye on. In the wind zone at and above treeline you'll find pockets of MODERATE avalanche danger today. While not widespread, human triggered avalanches breaking several feet deep are still POSSIBLE, especially on steep, wind drifted slopes facing the north half of the compass.

Lose some elevation, you lose the wind, you lose the problem and you'll find generally LOW avalanche danger around the dial in mid and lower elevation terrain.

Now is a great time to dial in your safety gear including putting fresh new batteries in your beacons! Local shops across the state will be handing out free Batteries for Beacons now until February 1, 2025. All you need to do is fill out a quick survey and grab the AAA or AA batteries you need to keep your beacon fresh this season. Find participating shops and more info here.

Trevor spotted this pocket yesterday. Looks like a cornice fall initiated this avalanche on a steep, wind drifted, upper elevation slope, which fits the bill of a handful of slides occurring on Sunday, December 15th.

Read more obs from across the range, here -- Thanks to y'all for the info... please keep those letters and cards coming :)

Nowcast-

With clear skies overhead, a waning Cold Mood casts beautiful early morning light on our mountains while west and southwest winds hum along in the 20's and 30's near the high peaks. With just two days to go before the days get noticeably longer, it's mild, with overnight low temperatures registering in the mid 20's and a few low lying traiheads finishing up the night shift in the mid teens. It's a mixed bag out there and it's been a slow start to winter with settled snow depths averaging just about 2' across the range. Riding and turning conditions are acceptable, but tread lightly, there's no shortage of buried treasures lurking just below the snow surface.

Forecast-

Look for mostly sunny skies with high temperatures climbing into the low 30's. A storm system bumps to our north and that'll bring gusty, west and southwest winds to the high peaks through the early evening.

Futurecast-

Not much going on in the weather department. We can expect clear skies, warming temperatures, and decreasing winds... rinse and repeat through the weekend. But wait... there's more! Computer models agree with a more active pattern developing between Christmas and the New Year. We'll keep ya posted on this developing story.

Ted was on the east side visiting Mill Creek yesterday and reports... "Early season conditions with only about 20" or so once I got into the Mill Creek drainage. Much of the south facing terrain is very thin to no snow at all."

Additional Information

The Uinta weather station network was upgraded this summer and all that real-time info is found here. Simply click on the "Western Uinta" tab and then the "Weather Stations" tab to find all your weather needs.

We are always looking for snow and avalanche observations or just general riding conditions. So... if you see something, say something. You can reach our team directly by contacting: Craig at [email protected], 801-231-2170, or Andrew at [email protected], or 860-460-8142.

General Information

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 Thursday, December 19th at 03:30 AM and expires 24 hours after it was issued. We will update the forecast by 0700 AM tomorrow. But, in the meantime reach out to us with questions, or if you see anything in your travels.