Bulletin d’avalanche

Uintas

Utah Avalanche Center
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Danger d’avalanche

  • Alpin
  • Limite forestière
  • Sous la limite forestière
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Périmé — ce bulletin a expiré 7 years ago. Vous consultez des conditions passées, pas le bulletin en cours.

Points saillants

Heads up... we've got the perfect setup for avalanches to break on weak snow near the ground, resulting in a dangerously large slide that will instantly ruin your day. So... let's not lose our minds today over some fresh snow and bright sunshine. Instead, let's think about having a great day, high fives at the trailhead, and getting back home to our families.

In upper elevation terrain in the wind zone, deceptively tricky avalanche conditions exist on steep, wind drifted slopes, especially those with an easterly component to its aspect. You'll find HIGH avalanche danger in terrain with these characteristics and human triggered avalanches are VERY LIKELY.

In addition, recent winds drifted snow onto steep, leeward, mid elevation slopes where a CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger exists and human triggered avalanches are LIKELY. Once triggered, today's drifts may break deeper and wider than you might expect.

Just the shear amount of new snow warrants an honrable mention on steep, lower elevation terrain where a MODERATE avalanche danger is foundand human triggered slides and sluffs are possible.

This doesn't mean we can't ride. We simply need to stay off of and out from under steep, wind drifted slopes. You can have a blast carving deep trenches in big open meadows.

Problèmes avalancheux

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpin
    • Limite forestière
    • Sous la limite forestière
    Probabilité
    Likely
    Taille
    3

    The most in-your-face avalanche problem for today are fresh drifts.

    Fact is, winds have blown in the 40's and 50's for days and they've been all over the map, loading terrain in unusual locations and depositing snow further down-slope than we usually expect to see. Yep... winds changed the landscape and have created tricky avalanche conditions. With all the great riding right now there's no reason to pull on the dogs tail today, because once initiated, today's drifts will break deeper and wider than you might expect, creating a slide that quickly gets out of hand. Your best bet for avoidance is to simply steer clear of any fat, rounded piece of snow, especially if it sounds hollow like a drum.

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpin
    • Limite forestière
    • Sous la limite forestière
    Probabilité
    Likely
    Taille
    4

    The image above clearly illustrates... some slopes are good to go while other wait for a trigger. Please... exercise some patience and don't let that trigger be you. (Pete Earle image)

    Recent storm snow, water weight, and winds brought our dormant, persistent weak layers back to life... and these layers are WOKE!

    But here's the problem... while the region experienced a widespread natural avalanche cycle, much of the evidence is missing. Nearly all the crowns and slide paths filled back in from Tuesday nights wind. So you won't see one of the biggest clues to avalanches and of course, that's avalanches! Making matters more complicated is that some slopes have adjusted to the big two week storm and are good to go, while others just wait for us to roll along and knock the legs out from underneath. And here's the danger... once initiated, often low on the slope, avalanches have a distinct possibility of breaking much deeper and wider than you might expect.

  • Storm Slabs

    • Alpin
    • Limite forestière
    • Sous la limite forestière
    Probabilité
    Possible
    Taille
    2

    We've had a lot of new snow this week and now its stacking up around our trailheads and at lower elevations. Remember... even if you're headed out for a trail run, snowshoe, dog walk, or family sled adventure, be aware of steep slopes above and adjacent to where you're playing and avoid terrain traps like gullies and streambeds.

Recent Activity

BOTH OF THESE LARGE SLIDES WERE TRIGGERED WEDNESDAY-

This is a big slide on the north side of Humpy Peak at about 10,600' in elevation. Triggered by the 5th rider on the slope, the avalanche broke 4'-6' deep, 600' wide, and failed on weak snow near the ground. Lucky there was only one person on the slope, the group had eyes on their partner, and at the end of the day, everyone comes to home to their families. Ted and I are gonna take a deeper dive into this slide today and will report our findings on tomorrows forecast update.

Meanwhile on the south end of the range near Blind Stream, riders found touchy conditions and reported... "Biggest avalanche we have seen in this area. We knew avalanche danger was high so we were being careful but triggered this one side-hilling down low on the hill."

To view additional trip reports and recent avalanche activity, simply click here.

Snow and Weather

Currently-

Short-lived high pressure this morning, delivers clear skies and temperatures in the teens and low 20's. Southerly winds increased late yesterday afternoon and continued overnight, blowing in the 30's along the high ridges. Riding and turning conditions are about as good as they get, but get after it before the wind does. As the day progresses and winds begin to howl, you'll need to seek out mid and low elevation wind sheltered terrain today where you'll be rewarded with cold, creamy snow.

Uinta weather network info is found here. Simply click on the Western Uinta tab.

For today-

High clouds drift through the region and it'll be very warm with temperatures climbing into the upper 30's. However, the bigger news are the southerly winds... and they'll be cranking into the 60's, 70's, and 80's along the high peaks later today as a quick hitting system lines up to impact the region.

Futurecast-

Strongest winds peak tonight. Intense snowfall begins late tonight, lingering into Friday morning, but this is a quick moving storm and totals should only be in the 6"-10" range. After much colder temperatures Friday, expect a warming trend with light winds through the weekend.

Additional Info

Thanks to the generous support of our Utah ski resorts and Ski Utah, we have discount lift tickets available. All proceeds support the UAC. Get your tickets HERE.

Get one of these cool t-shirts to support the UAC and other avalanche centers across the U.S. INFO

General Announcements

The information in this forecast expires in 24 hours, but will be updated by 7:00 AM Friday Jan. 17th.

This forecast is updated daily by 7:00 AM.

In the mean-time, if you see or trigger an avalanche or just wanna let me know what you're seeing you can reach me directly at 801-231-2170

It'll be a minute or two before we're riding, but while you're waiting....

This is a great time of year to schedule one of our free avy awareness presentations.

You can email me directly [email protected]

The information in this forecast is from the US Forest Service which is solely responsible for its content.

Régions couvertes