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Out of date — this forecast expired 3 years ago.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

While not as reactive as yesterday, avy danger is still sketchy and once triggered, today's avalanches are gonna pack a dangerously hefty punch-

In the wind zone, above treeline, you'll find HIGH avalanche danger around the dial. Steep, rocky, upper elevation slopes, are particularly sketchy where human triggered avalanches are VERY LIKELY. CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger is found near and below treeline (think terrain around our trailheads and foothills) where human triggered avalanches are LIKELY on steep slopes with recent deposits of wind drifted snow.

I know you wanna ride and avoid the avalanche dragon today and that's easy to do- you can have a blast by simply heading to low angle, 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 (10,661') illustrates where you're likely to find wind drifts that'll react to our additional weight.

    With no shortage of low density snow available to blow around, expect to find both old and newly formed wind drifts on the leeward side of ridges and around terrain features like chutes and gullies. And remember... the snowpack is still trying to adjust to several weeks worth of storm snow and there's an outside chance avalanches will break deeper and wider than you might expect, perhaps failing on a weaker layer or density inversion, now buried deeply in our snowpack. Now, here's where the rubber hits the road... once triggered, todays avalanches can easily boss you around. The good news is... there's plenty of terrain you can ride today and not have any issues. In fact, you can have a great day of riding by avoiding steep, wind drifted terrain and by steering clear of fat and rounded pieces of snow or slopes that sound hollow like a drum. Done, done, and done :)

  • Storm Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    2

    Yesterday's storm snow is settling rapidly, but a whole new round of snow early this morning piles up on a variety of snow surfaces, including hard, slick crusts. Once triggered, today's new snow avalanches have the potential to run a bit faster and further than we might anticipate. So, you'll wanna carefully evaluate steep snow covered slopes at all elevations.

Recent Activity

Not particularly shocking, long running sluffs and shallow soft slabs were Tuesday's avalanche flavor of the day. Today's slides might not be quite as reactive, but they'll have more volume and will pack a punch.

In addition, 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- Yet another 5" of Uber-light, chin tickling snow gets squeezed out of mostly cloudy skies overhead this morning, as one last gasp of snow from the storm that keeps giving... keeps giving! Storm totals are solid, though the North Slope is the clear winner with 22" snow/1.3 SWE, however the south half of the range gets honorable mention none-the-less as 14" snow/.80 SWE stacks up. Cold air settles into the region and temperatures crater into the single digits and low teens, while west and northwest winds are beginning to taper off, blowing in the 20's along the high ridges. Total settled snow depths are colossal with most remote weather stations reporting over 100", so that means riding and turning conditions are all-time and with yesterday's deep, light topper... it's over-the-hood and over-the head!

Forecast- Scattered snow showers linger over the region for the next few hours, piling up a couple additional inches, though the storm is winding down and I bet we see partly cloudy skies by early afternoon. It's gonna be cold with highs only reaching into the teens and low 20's. West and northwest winds decrease as the day wares on.

Futurecast- A break in the weather is slated to begin settling into the region overnight with a warmer, dryer pattern beginning Thursday, lingering through the weekend.

Trip Reports-

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)

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 03:27 on Wednesday April 5th this forecast expires 24 hours after the date and time posted, but will be updated by 07:00 Thursday April 6th 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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