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Out of date — this forecast expired 2 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

The avalanche danger is generally LOWand human triggered avalanches are UNLIKELY. Remember... it's low tide and there's a lot of reef barely hidden underneath the surface of our thin snowpack. In reality, you stand a better chance of slamming into a stump, rock, or deadfall than you do triggering an avalanche.

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely
    Size
    1

    The snowpit profiles above were submitted by snowpro's Joey Manship and Trevor Katz, from Weber Canyon and the Duchesne Ridge respectively. And while slightly different structure presents itself across the range, the theme remains the same.... our shallow snowpack is morphing into a weak, sugary mess.

    Our current setup-

    There's miles and miles of terrain you can ride safely today. In fact, I think you'd be hard pressed to trigger a slide today. But... if you're hunting for an avy, especially on a steep, leeward slope in the windzone, all you need to do is find a thin spot in the snowpack, maybe around a bush or rock, collapse the slope, and now we're staring down the barrel of a moving piece of snow that could throw a curve ball at my day.

Special Announcement

Save the dates and please join us this week!

- Avalanche Awareness Week is in full stride and there's statewide events throughout the week. Check out the full list of happenings across the state HERE!

-The week wraps up Saturday December 7th from 4:00-7:45 PM at the University of Utah with our 17th annual Utah Snow and Avalanche Workshop. Deets and tickets HERE!

Recent Activity

No new avalanche activity since Wednesday, November 27th near Wolf Creek Pass with several remotely triggered avalanches breaking near the ground on our problem child, a persistent weak layer of snow or what we call PWL.

Archived avy activity found HERE.

Snow and Weather

Nowcast-

Under clear skies, coolish air filtered into the Uinta zone overnight, but it's hardly noticeable with temperatures registering in the high 20's. Northerly winds bumped into the mid teens to wrap up Thursday's swing shift, but the graveyard crew took over and dialed winds back into the single digits near the high peaks overnight.

Forecast-

High pressure homesteads overhead today, delivering clear skies with temperatures climbing into the upper 30's and low 40's. Blowing 5-15 mph near the high peaks, north and northwest winds remain tame throughout the day.

Futurecast-

A cool front crosses the region Sunday morning, ushering in winter-like air and a flurry or two. A second, "stronger" system, punches its way through a wet paper bag, slides into the area Sunday night into Monday, and delivers an inch or two of low density snow and cooler temperatures.... not exactly a robust, base building kinda storm.

Current conditions-

Sunny slopes and low elevation terrain is taking a hard hit. But don't get too discouraged at the trailheads. The high country offers settled snow depths in the two foot range, but remember... it's white from far, but far from white, with no shortage of buried treasures barely lurking under a thin facade of snow. Riding and turning conditions are a mixed bag though low angle meadow skipping on shady slopes is the ticket and still offers soft, creamy, surface snow on a somewhat supportable base.

Get out of the valley gunk... since any day on the snow is better than a day spent organizing the garage :)

Additional obs and trip reports found HERE.

General Announcements

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 Friday December 6th at 0330 AM and expires 24 hours after it was issued. We will update the forecast by 07:00 tomorrow. But, in the meantime reach out to us with questions, or if you see anything in your travels.

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