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Out of date — this forecast expired last year. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

For today, MODERATE avalanche danger exists on mid and upper-elevation slopes facing the north half of the compass where human-triggered, persistent slab avalanches failing on faceted snow and breaking up to 3’ deep are still POSSIBLE. In addition, with nearly a 1/2 foot of snow overnight, look for and avoid wind-drifts reactive to our additional weight, especially on steep, leeward slopes, facing the south half of the compass.

LOW avalanche danger is found on all other aspects and elevations. Although UNLIKELY, it's spring after all and a mixed bag of small avalanches can catch us off guard, packing a punch, and knocking us off our feet. So you'll wanna be on your A-Game when stepping into bigger objectives and sustained steep terrain.

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    3

    Our persistent weak layers (PWL) are largely dormant, waiting for the next big change like additional wind, water, and snow to wake 'em up. And while we've got a lull in the action, now is exactly the time to get out on the snow, map the lay of the land, and do some homework by getting out your shovel to check out the snowpack structure, looking for strong snow over weak, sugary snow. Over the past week, steep slopes that face the north half of the compass and harbor a myriad of weak layers, came to life with the Valentines storm. Now here's the tricky part... as the snowpack adjusts and gains strength, we're not hearing obvious red flags like collapsing (whooomphing sounds) or seeing cracking that are typically associated with this problem, but digging down with your shovel or track it's easy to see the sugary facets partying underneath a cohesive, dense slab.

    And now where the rubber hits the road, a conundrum wrapped up in a snow stability dogma ... I'm keeping it tight and simply avoiding shallower areas of the snowpack like steep, rocky terrain where I'm more likely to trigger an avalanche that breaks deeper and wider than I might expect.

    This avalanche on a steep northwest facing slope off East Lofty Peak above Cutthroat lake at 11,100", failed in a shallower area of the snowpack. Nearly four football fields wide (that's 1,200' for everyone who seats in the upper deck), and 1-3' deep, this meaty piece of snow was triggered by a sledder mid-slope.

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1

    The storm has arrived and combined with variable and veering winds will create sensitive drifts around the compass as the day progresses. I expect today's drifts are sensitive to the additional weight of a rider, and sit atop a variety of old snow surfaces making it tough to predict how well they will bond. Generally small and mostly manageable in size, simply avoid steep, wind drifted, fat looking terrain in the wind zone.

    Remember... any avalanche triggered today will run a good distance down slope, picking up a head of steam on old, hard, slick surfaces.

Special Announcement

  • Join the UAC on Thursday, March 6th at Brewvies in Salt Lake for friends, drinks, prizes, and an action-packed film! Alpine Assassins is a movie about incredible backcountry sledding and adventure. Doors open at 6:30 PM. Get your tickets here
  • We are excited to announce the launch of our new mobile application available on both Android and IOS. Get all the information you need to plan your backcountry adventure and keep the information at the tip of your fingers while you are out. Install the Android version here and the IOS version here.

Recent Activity

No avalanches have been reported in three days, but it's been a busy week with close calls, with slides triggered remotely and from large, natural cornice falls crashing onto the slope below. Check out these avalanches and more beta from across the range and beyond, here.

Most likely cornice triggered, occurring during the mid-February storm cycle on Mt. Marsell, this is the type of avalanche we could still trigger today.

Snow and Weather

Nowcast-

The physique aware eastern front, still feelin' the carb heavy bloat from the 40" Valentine's storm, decides to lean out overnight, and shows up with an early morning Fat Tuesday weigh in... scales register 5" snow and .40 H2O, while northwest winds bumped into the 20's and 30's near the high peaks at the turn of the new day. Current temperatures start their day in the upper teens and low 20's. Riding and turning conditions rebound nicely overnight and low angle slopes deliver the best bet to avoid scratchy, bottom feeding.

Forecast-

A band of snow slides through the Uinta zone in the next couple hours, brushing on a quick coat of white paint, quickly stacking up an additional 3"-5" inches of medium density snow before tapering off by about suppertime. Northwest winds blow in the mid 30's and temperatures climb into the low 30's with overnight lows dipping into the teens.

Futurecast-

A short-lived break in the action is on tap for Wednesday, before clouds roll in and southwest winds bump into the 30's, ushering in our next round of snow slated to slide in on Thursday. Like me, the storm is loosely organized, though not nearly as rowdy, but none-the-less delivers a foot of snow and clearing skies for Saturday morning.

Riding & Travel Conditions-

It has been a minute or two since our last reset, but riding and travel conditions are legit. With a quick change in aspect from solars to polars, look for cold, creamy, January-like surface snow on a go-anywhere March-like base.

The Boondockers Crew whisper sweet nothings along with a little pillow talk at an undisclosed Uinta location this weekend :)

Additional Info

The Camp Steiner snow site, just east of Scout Peak and south of Lofty Peak, was upgraded with a new snow sensor and is cranking out accurate snow depths just in time for the first spring storm! This is a great weather station that provides information specific to the north slope, high-country, and Mirror Lake environs. You can access all the stations across the range, here.. click on western Uinta tab.

Installing the new snow depth sensor at Camp Steiner just below Scout Peak. When you bring your brother to work, you have to put him to work -- Thanks for the install, Kyle!

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 variations always occur. This forecast was issued on Tuesday, March 4th at 03:30 AM and expires 24 hours after it was issued.

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