Avalanche forecast

Uintas

Utah Avalanche Center
View on map

Avalanche danger

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Out of date — this forecast expired last year.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

Highlights

Pump the brakes... we should be stepping back and gathering snowpack intel today, before stepping out!

New snow and strong winds deliver CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger on mid and upper elevation slopes, especially those facing the north half of the compass. In the windzone, at and above treeline, human-triggered fresh drifts and storm snow avalanches are LIKELY. Heads up... the recent storm adds a bit more stress to the snowpack and that may bring PWL out of hibernation, producing a slide that breaks deeper and wider than we might expect. Steep, rocky terrain with a shallow snowpack fits the bill for slopes to avoid. While the snow feels solid under our feet, remember... unusually weak snow still lingers in the snowpack on upper elevation, shady slopes.

Lower elevation north facing terrain gets in on the act where MODERATE avalanche danger is found and human triggered slides are POSSIBLE on steep, wind drifted slopes.

Most mid and lower elevation south facing terrain offers dust on crust and generally LOW avalanche danger.

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    3

    I don't think the overnight storm is enough stress to make the walls start caving in, but with the help of yesterday's strong winds, the one-two combo might reveal the somewhat cranky personalities of our problem children, several persistent weak layers of snow, now buried a couple feet from the snow surface. The problem is... the pack feels bomber under our skis, board, or sled. And while we forget about weak layers, the snowpack has an amazing memory. In fact, if you trench down, you'll still find weak, sugary facets beneath the surface, now buried between 1' and 3’ deep and that's the devious culprit behind recent persistent slab avalanches.

    The next couple days are critical, so let's keep it tight and avoid terrain where we could trigger a slide that breaks deeper and wider that what we might've bargained for. Think... steep, rocky, shallow... like slopes that have avalanched several times already this winter.

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    2

    Dave Kikkert and Andy Nasetta, a couple avy-savvy Uinta forecasters, found shallow wind drifts reactive to their additional weight yesterday just as the storm got going. Today's drifts are gonna be a slightly more muscular version of yesterday's little brother and will pack a punch on sustained, steep slopes.

    A 24 hour data dump from Windy Peak (10,661')

    Winds have been all over the map and now there's snow available to whip into drifts sensitive to our additional weight. Today, look for drifts on the leeward side of ridges, along with terrain features like chutes and gullies. You know the program... keep an eye out for and avoid rounded pillows and stiff, textured drifts that sound hollow like a drum.

Special Announcement

Our Spring Campaign is in full swing, and there are two great ways to support forecasting, awareness, and education across Utah: Donate to our Spring Campaign or bid on items in our Spring Auction Every dollar helps keep the backcountry community on top. Thank you for your support!

  • We come to you with heavy hearts and great sadness this morning to confirm an avalanche accident on Friday, March 7th near Hoyt Peak, involving 51 year old Micheal Janulaitis from Marion, Utah. Micheal used a snowbike to access the terrain, but was caught, carried, and killed in an avalanche while skiing a steep, northeast facing run on Hoyt Peak.
  • Huge thanks to the Department of Public Safety, Park City Mountain Resort and Canyons Village Snow Safety and Ski Patrol teams, along with Wasatch Backcountry Rescue for the hard work recovering Micheal and returning him to his family. Micheal was a friend of Utah Avy and we feel privileged for the time we got to spend together. This is a tremendous loss for our backcountry family and we will miss him deeply. We are compiling accident details and a preliminary report is available here.

Recent Activity

Objects in the mirror are larger than they appear. We received some rudimentary beta on a rather well connected piece of snow, I suspect was cornice triggered on the tail end of last weeks storm. The image above is the northeast facing, hanging snow field in the alpine on the backside of Notch Mountain, just east of Mount Watson in the Mirror Lake Highway zone. Thanks to Kyle Cheston for the intel!

Snow and Weather

Nowcast- Not a bad shot of evenly distributed snow for the eastern front... 6" snow with .50" H2O seems like the norm across the board. After the turn of the new day and lull in recent cow-tipping southerly winds, west-northwest winds take center stage and ramp up into the 20's and 30's along the high ridges. Temperatures cratered into the teens and single digits as cold air filtered into the Uinta zone overnight.

Forecast- A last gasp of moisture delivers a couple inches of low density snow before things start winding down in the next couple hours. High temperatures climb into the mid 20's and lows dip into the teens overnight when yet another storm slides into the region for Saturday morning.

Futurecast- Saturday's storm lingers into the afternoon, with 6" to 8" of snow and roughly .70 H2O in the queue. A break for Sunday and then another stronger system is on tap for late Monday through Tuesday.

Travel & Riding Conditions-

Winter's got a shelf-life... Weston D says... get it while you can.

Additional Info

From trailhead signs to transceiver training parks, we are always trying to help keep our community styled at the Uinta trailheads. It is no walk on the skin track to keep this signage and equipment up and running all season long. If you see one of our signs in rough shape, or our transceiver parks buried, reach out to us and let us know or feel free to dust off a solar panel and show it a little love. It is a community effort and we couldnt do it without you!

General Announcements

We are always looking for snow and avalanche observations or just general riding conditions. In the meantime 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, March 14th at 04:00 AM and expires 24 hours after it was issued.

Regions covered