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Out of date — this forecast expired 2 years ago.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

MODERATE avalanche danger is found on shady, wind drifted slopes in mid and upper elevation terrain, especially in the wind zone above treeline. Human triggered avalanches are POSSIBLE, particularly on steep slopes facing the north half of the compass. Note to self... any slide triggered today has the potential to break deeper and wider than we might expect, delivering a massive curveball to my day.

Days of southerly winds nuked the solars and torched the snow, so we're back to low tide and exposed reef in a sea of green, generally LOW avy hazard

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    2

    A 24 hour wind run from Windy Peak (10,662') clearly illustrates a long duration wind event and leeward terrain drifting issues.

    Yesterday's storm snow, coupled with nuking wind, whips up yet another batch of wind drifts that'll be reactive to our additional weight. Here's where it gets tricky... wind hardened drifts are gonna feel strong and bomber underneath or skis, board, or sled, but I wouldn't let my guard down. My plan is to lose the wind and lose the problem. I'm avoiding fat rounded pillows of snow, especially if they sound hollow like a drum.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely
    Size
    2

    Visiting LaSal forecaster extraordinaire, Eric Trenbeath, delivers his take on snow structure after testing a mid elevation northwest facing piece of snow.

    We haven't heard of any significant avalanches since Monday, but I'm not ignoring the elephants in the room... two layers of faceted snow, one developed during the mid January cold, dry spell and the other during the mid December drought. And while we might've forgotten about 'em, the snowpack has an amazing memory. I'm still not trusting our current snowpack structure, especially in steep rocky terrain or slopes that avalanched earlier this season. Any slide triggered today has the potential to break deeper and wider than we might expect, delivering a body-bruising slide we might not walk away from.

Special Announcement

Sad news to report from the Monte Cristo area where a snowmobiler was caught, carried, and killed in an avalanche Monday. An accident summary is found here. Please know our hearts hurt and our collective energy goes out to friends, family, and everyone involved in this very tragic accident.

Recent Activity

No significant avalanche activity to report from Wednesday, but the weekend storm provided no shortage of slides cataloged here.

As always, gain more intel and info via obs, avalanches and trip reports from across the range and beyond, here!

Snow and Weather

Nowcast-

Whelp... it's been a good run and of course we need the wind, but it appears hourly averages are beginning to taper into the 20's and 30's near the peaks. Skies are clear in the wake of yesterday's storm that delivered 3" of medium density snow with .30" ish H2O to the north half of the range with about half that amount further south towards Wolf Creek. Overnight, temperatures cooled into the teens and mid 20's where they sit at o'dark thirty this morning. Riding and turning conditions have taken a hard hit, but swaths of shallow powder are found on low angle, mid elevation, wind sheltered slopes.

Forecast -

A break in the action is on tap for this morning and we can expect mostly sunny skies with high temperatures climbing into the mid 30's. Clouds increase by early afternoon with a weak system sliding through as southwest winds blow in the 20's and 30's near the high peaks. A bump in moisture favors the south half of the range with a couple inches of snow piling up by sunset.

Futurecast-

Expect a good shot of snow for late Friday through Saturday morning. I'm cautiously optimistic this storm produces 8"-10" of snow with an inch of water. More deets and better timing to follow for tomorrow's update.

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 always may occur. This forecast was issued on Thursday, February 6th at 04:00AM and expires 24 hours after it was issued.

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