Avalanche forecast

Uintas

Utah Avalanche Center
View on map

Avalanche danger

  • Alpine
  • Treeline
  • Below treeline
Open full map
Out of date — this forecast expired 8 months ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Heads up... recent rain produced a very slick snow surface and slide for life conditions exist in steep, unforgiving terrain.

Most slopes offer generally LOW avalanche danger, though pockets of MODERATE avalanche hazard are still found in the windzone, at and above treeline. While not widespread, human triggered avalanches, breaking two to four feet deep are POSSIBLE, especially on steep, rocky, slopes where a hard, dense slab sits above multiple persistent weak layers.

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely
    Size
    2

    Trevor and Noahs pit profile in Mill Hollow reveals a reactive layer (ECTP19) failing on early December snow.

    From record warm temperatures to a good shot of rain followed by rapid cooling, our snowpack has been yanked all over the map in just 24 hours. Sure, weird weather makes for weird snowpacks, but I'm taking the glass half full route and thinking... short-term pain, long term gain. Yeah yesterday was a mess, but my hunch is that the moist snow in our midpack and near the ground is going to welcome the colder temperatures, lock up, and become comfortable in its own skin. However, this is an unusual setup for us and I'm gonna proceed with, it's a guilty snowpack until proven otherwise approach and continue gathering more information before submitting a verdict.

    For now, I suspect you could still trigger a slide that breaks deeper and wider than you might expect, especially on steep, rocky slope , facing the north half of the compass.

    Looking into the future... raincrusts in the snowpack are a bad deal and I'm not psyched with this setup. In fact, some of the bigger train-wrecks we've had in the western Uinta's involve a raincrust/faceted snow/slab trifecta. Let's not take our eyes of this one.

Additional Info

This fleet can't be beat! Huge thanks to Ski-Doo in partnership with Karl Malone's Plaza Cycle, for arranging our sled, loaner program. This vital state-wide partnership gets sleds into the hands of UAC forecasters, allowing us to see more terrain, gather more snowpack information, and issue more accurate avalanche forecasts. Ultimately, this program helps us save lives!

Recent Activity

No new avalanche activity to report, but click on the button below for a look into the history of this seasons events.

View All Observations Here

Snow and Weather

Nowcast - Record warm temperatures, a solid stream of Christmas moisture delivering buckets of rain, buckets of tears, followed by hurricane force winds... what a way to run a winter! Clouds scream by the high peaks at o'dark as winds blowing in the 40's from the southwest pelt the ridges. Cold air finally worked it's way into the Uinta zone overnight and current temperatures register in the mid to upper 20's °F. Riding and turning conditions... godspeed out there today. Life is sad, life is a bust, all you can do, is do what you must.

Forecast - Look for mostly cloudy skies and scattered snow showers this morning into about midday. High temperatures bump into the low 30's °F while winds blowing 30-50 mph from the southwest, continue hammering the high peaks. Really... a storm is on the way, thanks for being so patient. Colder air slides into the region overnight as winds shift to the west and northwest and finally relax somewhat. Snow begins in earnest late tonight and continues stacking up through Saturday. I'm still thinking storm totals in the 12 inch ballpark with an inch of water by closing bell tomorrow.

Futurecast - A few lingering snow showers are on tap for Sunday with a drying trend slated to kick off the work week.

Visit Here For Additional Weather Information

Travel Conditions - You shoulda been here yesterday! After braving a rough start and an international hazmat incident while fueling up in Kamas, our intrepid travelers Noah and Trevor, forged into the upper reaches of Mill Hollow and were rewarded with a stout raincrust all the way up to the high peaks. Their all-time Christmas outing and most excellent trip report is found HERE.

Vehicle access to Mirror Lake Highway (HW150) and Bald mountain Pass is shut down, while SR-35 (Wolf Creek Pass) remains open.

General Announcements

We have some upcoming classes and events that we would 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 Friday, December 26th at 0400 AM and expires 24 hours after it was issued. We'll update this information by 07:00 AM tomorrow.

Regions covered