Avalanche forecast

Uintas

Utah Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

  • Alpine
  • Treeline
  • Below treeline
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Out of date — this forecast expired 6 months ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Heads up.... this the real deal and these are the exact avy conditions that lead to near misses, close calls, and days with unhappy endings-

For today, HIGH avalanche danger exists around the dial at and above treeline, especially in the windzone, and particularly on steep slopes facing the north half of the compass. Both human triggered and natural avalanches are VERY LIKELY. While many slopes avalanched naturally, there's plenty more that wait in a precarious balance for us to come along and knock the legs out from underneath. It's nothing to mess around with... the snowpack teeters on the edge, is unpredictable, and we're able to remotely trigger avalanches from a distance.... meaning we can knock the entire roof down on top of us.

Out of the wind just the shear amount of new snow bumps the avalanche hazard to CONSIDERABLE and human triggered avalanches are LIKELY on sustained steep slopes.

We don't have to hide under the beds. In fact, we can still have a blast today by carving deep trenches in big open meadows, free of any overhead hazard.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Very Likely
    Size
    3

    A 24 hour data dump from Windy Peak (10,662') clearly illustrates recent wind trends.

    The most in-yer-face avalanche problem is recent deposits of wind drifted snow... and they're gonna be everywhere today. West and southwest winds raged for three days and now for the first time in nearly six weeks, there's no shortage of storm snow to work with. Winds veered to the west and northwest late yesterday and now every aspect of the compass gets invited to the party. Found on the leeward side of ridges and lower downslope than we might expect, fresh drifts will begin connecting the dots around the dial. Once triggered, today's drifts will break to weak layers of old snow, now buried several feet deep in our snowpack, producing large, dangerous avalanches.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Very Likely
    Size
    3

    I went for a quick rip around Wolf Creek Pass Tuesday and found a very tender snow structure reactive to my additional weight and snowpack stability tests.

    A persistent weak layer of near surface facets that formed over the long stretch of dry, January weather is now protected and preserved beneath our most recent storm. On mid and upper elevation polar slopes, this weak layer is buried over 3' beneath the snow surface, is reactive to our additional weight, and can be triggered remotely or from a distance.... it's game on!

    In addition to recent avalanche activity, we're noticing lots of red flags, like shooting cracks and collapsing sounds, which are huge red flags and obvious clues to unstable snow. Avoiding steep slopes is the ticket today.

  • Storm Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    3

    Just the shear amount of new snow is worth honorable mention. Recent storm snow at all elevations will react to our additional weight. Sustained steep slopes even at lower elevations are now coming into play and need to be carefully evaluated.

Avalanche Warning

AVALANCHE WARNING IN EFFECT FROM-

Thursday, 2/19/26 at 6:00 AM MST through 6:00 AM MST Friday, 2/20/26

What: The avalanche danger for the warning area is HIGH today.

Where: The mountains of northern, central, southwestern, and southeastern Utah, including the Abajo Range, as well as southeastern Idaho.

Impacts: Recent heavy snow combined with strong wind is creating widespread areas of unstable snow. Both human-triggered and natural avalanches are likely.

What to do: Avoid all avalanche terrain. Stay off of and out from under slopes steeper than 30°. Carry and know how to use avalanche rescue equipment. Find safer riding conditions on slopes less than 30° with no overhead hazard.

Recent Activity

The Uinta's came unglued yesterday and there's no shortage of recent avalanche activity, even at lower elevations near our trailheads.

View All Avalanches & Observations Here

Snow and Weather

Nowcast -With mostly cloudy skies overhead, Mother Nature takes a deep breath and reflects... "well that was a pretty impressive show of strength huh?" Indeed it was and I'm still crunching the snow and water numbers, but it looks like and evenly distributed 24" of snow with 2.5" SWE. However, the over-achiever that it is, Trial Lake, tips the scales with an absolutely stunning 36" of snow and 3.1" SWE. A few lingering snow showers drift into the region as cold air spills into northern Utah and the mercury starts its day hovering right around 0 °F . Winds blow 10-20 mph from the west and northwest near the ridges, with a few gusts to 30 mph across the high peaks, delivering finger-numbing windchill into the -25 °F range.

Forecast - Look for mostly cloudy skies and a few scattered snow showers. It's gonna be cold with high temperatures barely clawing out of the deep freeze and into the low teens °F. Winds blow in the 20 mph range, shift to the southwest and even southeast around suppertime, as a storm system slides into central and south Utah.

Futurecast - Storminess to the south delivers a couple inches of snow overnight into Friday morning, but this is hardly a big snow producer. High pressure returns for the weekend with sunny skies and much warmer temperatures.

Check out the Uinta Weather Network here!

Travel Conditions - After six weeks with no significant snowfall, finally, the Uinta's got absolutely clobbered and the recent storm is nothing short of colossal. Lower elevations are coming on, but it's still low tide, so definitely tread lightly.

Avalanche educator extraordinaire, Michael Davis, was out field-truthing yesterday's conditions near Soapstone and it appears reported storm snow totals confirm suspicions. Yup... it's over-the-hood and over-the head!

Additional Info

Join the UAC for the first "Stay and Play Avalanche Course" at Bear River Lodge in the Uintas, March 19th-22nd. This course is designed for snowmobilers by snowmobilers, where you will learn avalanche rescue, riding skills, and how to survive in the backcountry. Come enjoy all the luxury offerings at Bear River Lodge and improve your skills along the way.

Our Avalanche Rescue Training Park is set-up and located at the top of Wolf Creek Pass, SR-35, and is waiting for you to come take it for a spin! Open up the control unit, flip a few switches, and dial in your avalanche rescue skills with this roadside attraction!

General Announcements

We have some upcoming classes and events that we'd be stoked to see you at -- Please reach out with any questions and check out below for more details!

See All Courses & Events Here

We are always looking for snow and avalanche observations or just general riding conditions. 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 Thursday, February 19th at 0400 and expires 24 hours after it was issued. We'll update this information by 07:00 AM tomorrow

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