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Out of date — this forecast expired 8 months ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Today, we've got two different avalanche dragons offering two entirely different outcomes-

MODERATE avalanche danger is found in mid and upper elevation terrain, especially on steep, wind drifted slopes. Bullseye terrain includes steep leeward slopes above treeline in the windzone, where human triggered avalanches are POSSIBLE. Here's the wildcard- in addition to freshly drifted slopes, I'd continue avoiding steep, rocky terrain where the snowpack is thin and a stiff slab rests on top of weak, sugary, early season snow. This setup may feel strong underneath our feet, but it's an unpredictably dangerous facade that allows us to get well out onto the slope before collapsing it (whumpf) and we knock the legs out from underneath, resulting in a body-bruising slide that breaks deeper and wider than we might expect.

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    2

    Early last week, a party of riders triggered this avalanche on the North Slope near the Humpy Basin. Evidence is sparse, but some strong detective work from local Snowpro, Trevor Katz, helped piece things together. Looks like a catch and carry a close call. You can find more on their report here.

    This is the avalanche dragon that'll roll us-

    Upper elevation slopes facing the north half of the compass harbor early-season snow that grew weak and sugary during the November dryspell. Now we've got several dense layers of storm snow resting on a structurally weak foundation. Our persistent weak layer problem child isn't widespread, but it is lurking on steep, shady, upper-elevation, rocky slopes. Problem is... once triggered, today's avalanches could still break deeper and wider than you expect, delivering a nasty ride.

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1

    A 24 hour data dump from Windy Peak illustrates the direction, velocity, and duration of our ridgetop winds.

    We can easily avoid this avalanche dragon-

    Winds have been all over the map, loading leeward slopes around the dial and forming drifts around terrain features like chutes and gullies. You know the program... loose the wind and you loose the problem. Yeah, simply steer clear of dense, rounded, pillows of snow, especially if they sound hollow like a drum. Loose some elevation and seek out wind sheltered terrain where you'll find spongy, reboundable snow.

Recent Activity

No new avalanche activity to report, but you can find lots of travel reports and observations from across the range and beyond below.

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Snow and Weather

Nowcast - Wind, rain, and even thunder-snow.... yeah, that was quite the electric winter storm that slid over the region yesterday delivering 4" of snow with about .85" of H20. In other words, just what we needed... a thick, dense coat of white paint. In the wake of yesterday's turbulence, a band of high clouds slides through the region at o'dark thirty while temperatures flirt with the single digits F along the ridges and low teens F at our trailheads. Along the high peaks, winds blowing 30-50 mph from the west and northwest add a finger numbing bite to the air with windchill values registering near -17 degrees F. Riding and turning conditions are slowly improving.

Forecast - A break in the action this morning offers partly to mostly cloudy skies with cooler temperatures climbing into the upper 20's. Winds decrease somewhat this morning, blow in the 20's and 30's from the west and northwest, but then switch to the southwest later today and bump into the 50's, allowing a weak impulse to graze the northern half of the state.

Futurecast - Another warm, wet, windy system is slated to arrive Friday and linger through the weekend.

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Travel Conditions -

Yesterday's storm was a welcome gift, helping to improve spirits and add a little cushion to our travels. However, many slopes throughout the range are white from far, but far from white. The snow surface and overall coverage is a variable, mixed bag of both strong and weak snow.

Andy visited the South Slope Tuesday and reports a tale of two snowpacks. Old snow near the ground on slopes facing the north half of the compass, while many sunny slopes are still waiting for the invite to the company-wide Holiday Party.

Additional Info

This fleet can't be beat! Huge thanks to Ski-Doo in partnership with Karl Malone's Plaza Cycle, for arranging our sled, loaner program. This vital state-wide partnership gets sleds into the hands of UAC forecasters, allowing us to see more terrain, gather more snowpack information, and issue more accurate avalanche forecasts. Ultimately, this program helps us save lives!

General Announcements

We have some upcoming classes and events that we would be stoked to see you at -- Please reach out with any questions and check out below for more details!

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We are always looking for snow and avalanche observations or just general riding conditions. 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 Thursday, December 18th at 0400 AM and expires 24 hours after it was issued. We'll update this information by 07:00 AM tomorrow.

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