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Out of date — this forecast expired 3 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Think... not only about the snow you're riding in, but also the snow you're riding on.

CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger exists on steep, rocky, upper elevation, leeward slopes. Human triggered avalanches are LIKELY on drifted slopes in the wind zone above treeline. Terrain facing the north half of the compass, especially steep slopes with an easterly component to its aspect have the potential to produce avalanches that'll pack a punch and easily roll you. MODERATE avalanche danger is found near treeline and human triggered avalanches are POSSIBLE on steep slopes with recent deposits of wind drifted snow.

Today's exit strategy... you can have a blast and score soft, surfy snow and LOW avalanche danger on mid and lower elevation, wind sheltered terrain with no overhead hazard.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    3

    A 24 hour data dump from Windy Peak (10,662'), gives you solid beta of where recent winds loaded leeward terrain.

    I think yesterday's wind drifts settled significanty overnight and won't be quite as reactive to our additional weight, but here's where it's gonna get tricky... last nights storm snow fell straight out of the sky and that'll hide yesterday's drifts, making them harder to detect. So... what's the strategy to manage the problem? Avoidance, of course! Yeah, simplysteer clear of fat, rounded pieces of snow, especially if they sound hollow like a drum because I bet there's piece of snow out there that'll break deeper and wider than we might expect. Steep, rocky, upper elevation, wind drifted slopes facing the north half of the compass still feel suspect to me. Lose the wind and you lose the problem... there's plenty of great, wind sheltered riding out there on lower angle slopes, especially those with no overhead hazard.

Special Announcement

Big thanks go out to Tim Overy from Evanston Fire Department and Deputy Aaron Hutchinson with Uinta county SAR for opening your doors and inviting me to present to your organizations last night. It was a huge honor and myself along with the entire community are collectively grateful for all your hard work and dedication, keeping our families safe.

Recent Activity

An intriguing result from a large, tree breaking cornice as it crashes onto the slope below Tuesday in Upper Weber Canyon.

Plenty of avy activity to peruse if ya wanna geek out. Click HERE to track this years slide activity throughout the range.

Snow and Weather

Nowcast- Last nights storm delivered a nice coat of white paint, quickly stacking up an evenly distributed 3" snow with .30" H2O. Yet another piece of energy is marching towards the Uinta's as I type at o'dark thirty and that should pile up an additional 2"-4" of snow by the time you're sipping your morning beverage. Under mostly cloudy skies, temperatures register in the teens and low 20's. Winds are light and westerly, blowing 10-20 mph along the high ridges. With a deep, robust, go-anywhere base, riding and turning conditions are about as good as they get.

Forecast- Occasional snow showers continue through this evening and could be briefly heavy at times. Look for mostly cloudy skies with temperatures climbing into the mid 20's. West-southwest winds blow in the 20's with a few gusts in the 30's clipping the high ridges.

Futurecast- A cold front ushers in unseasonably crisp temperatures and snow levels to valley floors Friday morning into Friday afternoon. On and off snow along with very cold temperatures are on tap for the weekend with a break in the action Monday.

More unsettled weather heads our way manana.

Ted was in the Whitney Basin Tuesday and offers his sage advice and outstanding local knowledge in his trip report found HERE.

Detailed trip reports and recent obs are found HERE.

Additional Info

Weather stations-

And... rime events from January's atmospheric rivers severely crippled the Uinta weather station network. I'm working to get it back up and running, but a few stations are found HERE (click weather stations, and then on the Western Uinta tab)

Over the weekend I visited our Currant Creek Snow site and of course... it was buried! I'm still trouble shooting comms and working to get everything back online.

Observations-

Your observations are important, so please let me know what you're seeing... click HERE and contribute to this amazing community-based program

General Announcements

Issued at 03:37 on Thursday March 23rd this forecast expires 24 hours after the date and time posted, but will be updated by 07:00 Friday March 24th 2023.

Before it gets too crazy, now is the time to book an avalanche awareness presentation for your group, club, or posse. You can reach Craig directly at 801-231-2170 or [email protected].

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.

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