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Forecast for the Uintas Area Mountains

Craig Gordon
Issued by Craig Gordon on
Tuesday morning, March 28, 2023
Increasing winds are the game-changer on the eastern front and todays avy hazard reflects this trend-
While not widespread, today you'll find pockets of CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger, particularly on steep, rocky, upper elevation, leeward slopes. Human triggered avalanches are LIKELY on drifted slopes in the wind zone above treeline. Terrain facing the north half of the compass, especially steep slopes with an easterly component to its aspect have the potential to produce avalanches that'll pack a punch and could easily roll you today. MODERATE avalanche danger is found near treeline and human triggered avalanches are POSSIBLE on steep slopes with recent deposits of wind drifted snow.
Looking for an exit strategy? Well, you came to the right place! LOW avalanche danger exists on lower elevation terrain around the dial, where you can have a blast and score soft, creamy snow along with predictable avalanche danger, particularly in wind sheltered terrain with no overhead hazard.
Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
Extreme
Learn how to read the forecast here
Special Announcements
Thank you to everyone who donated to our Spring Campaign. We appreciate your support and look forward to creating new tools to help you stay safe in the backcountry.
Also... I am in the process of finalizing a report regarding the March 9th avalanche fatality in the Uinta's. Thank you for your patience... we will publish the final report in coming days.
Weather and Snow
Nowcast- Yesterday morning's storm put a little premium in the tank, juiced up nicely, and over produced, delivering 4"-6" of chin tickling, ultra low density snow. Clear skies overnight allow temperatures to crater into the single digits where they hover early this morning. It's been a good run with very little wind, but that began changing late last night as southerly winds bumped into the 20's and 30's and continue in that spirit into the new day. Today's winds thicken the snow surface and the glorious, days-long, powder party is coming to an end. However, don't let your heart be troubled, on a solid, go-anywhere base, wind sheltered terrain still harbors soft, creamy snow.
Forecast- Get out and get after it this morning while the winds are reasonable and the viz remains in our favor. Look for increasing clouds, high temperatures climbing into the 30's, and southerly winds bumping into the 30's and 40's by days end.
Futurecast- A nice shot of snow, water, and wind slides through the region Wednesday and we should see snow developing by about midday, becoming heavy overnight and into Thursday. The action winds down Friday with a foot or two of snow looking like a good bet to round out the workweek.
Trip Reports-
Michael J was in Beaver Creek yesterday and reports dry snow on the polars with some sun funk on the solars. His writeup and insights are found HERE.
Even more detailed trip reports and recent obs are found HERE.
Recent Avalanches
Other than a few shallow wind drifts and long running sluffs, no significant avy activity to report
Plenty of avy activity to peruse if ya wanna geek out. Click HERE to track this years slide activity throughout the range.
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Avalanche Problem #1
Wind Drifted Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
Windy Peak (10,662') delivers a 24 hour data dump, illustrating recent wind trends along the high ridges.
With no shortage of light snow available to blow around, today's winds have no problem whipping up fresh drifts reactive to our additional weight. Remember... there are several storms worth of wind drifted snow stacked up on leeward slopes in the windzone and once triggered, todays avalanches are gonna pack a hefty punch. It doesn't mean you shouldn't ride... it does mean that rather than blindly center-punching a big objective with no beta, gather as much information as you can about the snowpack. Tweak small test slopes similar in aspect, elevation, and slope angle to the kinda terrain you plan on riding and see how they're reacting. In addition, have an exit plan in place in case things go sideways and discuss that with your crew before considering big terrain. Remember... you can have a blast on slopes protected by the wind and not even have to pull on the avalanche dragons trail today.
Additional Information
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 03:17 on Tuesday March 28th this forecast expires 24 hours after the date and time posted, but will be updated by 07:00 Wednesday March 29th 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 craig@utahavalanchecenter.org.
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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