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Out of date — this forecast expired 2 years ago.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

Heads up... especially on the east side of the range where a solid shot of snow, coupled with strong wind delivers touchy conditions-

Unusual weather makes unusual avalanches and I'll embrace that as today's avy mantra. In fact, with nuking winds on tap, avalanche danger quickly rises to CONSIDERABLE in the wind zone above treeline. Human triggered avalanches are LIKELY as the day wareson, especially on steep, wind drifted slopes, particularly those with a westerly component to its aspect.

Strong winds penetrate mid elevation terrain where you'll find MODERATE avalanche danger and human triggered avalanches are POSSIBLE on steep wind drifted slopes.

More the exception than the rule, a slide breaking to old snow isn't entirely out of the question, particularly in steep, rocky, wind drifted terrain facing the north half of the compass.

Lose some elevation and head to wind sheltered terrain where you'll find generally LOW avalanche danger.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    2

    Lofty Lake Peak (11,186') is one of the first peaks on the receiving end of northeasterly winds. (disregard temps and windchill... they're whacked)

    Winds are gonna nuke from the east and northeast, and that's an odd direction for us. As such, look for fresh drifts in unusual locations, especially on slopes with a westerly component to its aspect. As the day wares on, I expect today's drifts become more widespread and will begin packing a more significant punch. While I suspect most drifting occurs on the leeward side of mid and upper elevation ridges, be on the lookout cross-loading in chutes and gullies and avoid any fat, rounded piece of snow, especially if it sounds hollow like a drum. Breaking at or below our skis, board, or sled today's main avalanche problem is easily managed with terrain choices. Lose the wind... you lose the problem.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely
    Size
    4

    Mark found deep, strong, and stable snow on Saturday during his travels near treeline.

    Our snowpack is mostly bomb dot com, but a few Black Swans preen on the shores, though all the right elements for a catastrophic avalanche need to align perfectly. Think... steep, rocky, wind loaded terrain in the windzone, especially slopes that have avalanched multiple times this year. Or in other words... you'd really have to get unlucky. Rather than try to out-guess the snowpack, just keep it simple and avoid places where you think there's a good chance of hitting rocks which in turn are likely places to trigger a deep, dangerous avalanche.

Recent Activity

I stomped around the mid Weber Canyon environs yesterday and found shallow, yet very reactive fresh drifts on the leeward side of upper elevation ridges, breaking about a foot deep .

And, over the weekend I took a look at a ginormous, boxcar sized cornice which broke unpredictably.

For all Uinta observations and recent avalanche activity click HERE.

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Snow and Weather

Nowcast- Yo Denver... heads up... our recent storm is about to clobber you! However, closer to home, our meandering midweek storm delivers a band of thickening clouds, colder temperatures, and a few inches of snow overnight, with a good shot of wrap-around moisture later today. Currently, temperatures register in the single digits and low teens, while winds blow 40 mph from the northeast near the high peaks. Riding and turning conditions are a mixed bag, though low angle, wind sheltered terrain offers soft, settled snow.

Forecast- Now for the bad news... as low pressure dives to the four corners we're gonna experience a prolonged period of obnoxiously strong, snow torching, moonscape sculpting, east and northeast winds blowing in the 40's and 50's, gusting into the 70's. While most of the range sees scattered snow showers, the east side should stack up 6"-12". High temperatures climb into the upper 20's and overnight lows dip into the teens.

Futurecast- High pressure builds Friday, delivering sunny skies with warming temperatures to wrap up the workweek.

There's a lot going on and our good friends and longtime partners at Salt Lake's NWS have issued a Winter Weather Advisory for the east and north half of the Uinta range.

Additional Info

The Uinta weather station network was upgraded this summer and all that real-time info is found HERE. Simply click on "western Uinta" tab and then "weather stations" tab.

We are always looking for snow and avalanche observations or just general riding conditions. So... if you see something, say something. You can reach me directly at [email protected] or 801-231-2170. Also, if you're looking for more avy education opportunities for yourself, your crew, or your club please don't hesitate to reach out to me and we'll find a presentation, class, or clinic for ya!

General Announcements

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Issued at 0400 on Thursday, March 14th this forecast will be updated by 0700 Friday, March 15th, 2024.

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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