Uintas

The snowpack is at a tenuous balance and avalanche danger remains tricky-

Steep, mid and upper elevation slopes, especially those facing the north half of the compass in the wind zone above treeline, offer CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger. Human triggered avalanches breaking deeper and wider than you might expect are LIKELY, particularly where stiff wind drifted snow rests atop weak sugary snow. In addition, recent winds made their way into lower elevation shady terrain where you'll find a MODERATE avalanche danger and human triggered avalanches are POSSIBLE. Even low elevation terrain got into the mix and you could get surprised on a steep slope right near the trailhead. The Mill Hollow Slide path instantly comes to mind.

LOW avalanche danger is found on low and mid elevation south facing slopes and human triggered avalanches are UNLIKELY.

Here's your exit strategy- find a mellow, low angle south facing slope or big open meadow with no overhead hazard... (meaning, no steep slopes above or adjacent to where you're traveling) and practice your riding skills like carving deep trenches in fresh snow. Remember, don't get too throttle happy because it's still low tide and there's plenty of reef barely hidden underneath our recent storm snow. With a significant danger of hitting rocks, stumps, and other obstacles, you'll wanna tone it down today and don't let a buried treasure ruin your season.

Join the Utah Avalanche Center and the Division of Outdoor Recreation to celebrate the Fourth Annual Avalanche Awareness week, from December 4 - December 11. Click HERE to view the full list of events for the week. Mirror Lake Highway is closed for the season. SR-35 (Wolf Creek Pass) remains open.

No mystery here near the Mill Hollow Trailhead on the way to snag a Christmas tree... a weak snowpack was overloaded by Friday's robust storm, producing widespread avalanche activity across the range.

Plenty of avalanche activity this week and the common theme is this... avalanches are getting triggered from a distance, breaking 2' deep and up to 200' wide, and are failing on weak faceted snow formed during the very cold, mid November dryspell. More deets found HERE.

Nowcast- A nice coat of North Slope favored white paint rolled through the region late last night, delivering 7" of snow with .50" H2O. The south half of the range lags slightly behind, but still reports a respectable 5" of snow... and more is on the way! As cold air filters into the area, temperatures are falling into the 20's and mid teens. Sunday's southwest winds blowing to 60 mph tapered off around midnight, switched to the west and currently blow in 20's along the high ridges. This mornings trailhead commute might be a gong show, but give it a minute or two, let everyone get to work and then get after it... early season riding and turning conditions are all time and worth the patience.

Forecast- Another band of moisture fills in as I type early this morning (or is it late last night :) and that should deliver another couple inches of snow. Look for a midday break with additional snow slated for late in the day. West and northwest winds remain well-behaved, blowing in the 20's with a few gusts in the mid 30's along the high peaks. High temperatures don't vary much from where we're at this morning and overnight lows dip to the single digits. Storm totals by Tuesday morning should tally in the 10" range.

Futurecast- A break in the action is slated for Tuesday, but active weather continues every other day this week with a bigger storm on tap to round out the work week.

While I was in the Mill Hollow zone Saturday, Ted's travels took him to Whitney Basin, Micheal J stomped around the Lower Weber Drainage, whilst Andy traveled south towards Tower Mountain. Trip reports and recent obs are found HERE.

And we've been super busy this summer upgrading the western Uinta weather station network and this real-time info is found HERE (click weather stations, and then on the Western Uinta tab)

Your observations are important, so please let me know what you're seeing... click HERE and contribute to this amazing community-based program

Issued at 03:49 on Monday December 5th, this forecast expires 24 hours after the date and time posted, but will be updated by 07:00 Tuesday December 6th.

Before it gets too crazy, now is the time to book an avalanche awareness presentation for your group, club, or posse. You can reach Craig directly at 801-231-2170 or [email protected].

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.