Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains Issued by Craig Gordon for Saturday - March 25, 2017 - 4:16am
bottom line

While not widespread, today you'll find pockets of MODERATE avalanche danger. Human triggered avalanches are possible on steep wind drifted slopes above treeline in the wind zone. Wind sheltered terrain offers generally LOW avalanche danger.
current conditions

With another storm on our doorstep, southwest winds began ramping up just after midnight and are blowing 30-40 mph along the high peaks. Skies are overcast and temperatures in the mid 20's and low 30's. Thursday's storm snow settled out quickly on the sunny slopes, but there's still cold shallow powder waiting in mid and upper elevation shady terrain. Wanna avoid bottom-feeding but still get in a good day of riding? I thought you did and low angle slopes with smooth snow underneath are the ticket today.


Above... 24 hour data from Lofty Lake Peak (11,186') and the Trial Lake snotel site (9,992') reflecting an uptick in winds and a solid upper elevation snowpack.

Real time wind, snow, and temperatures for the Uinta's are found here


Lower elevation trailheads took a big hit from last weeks big warm up. But up high, it's still cold and frosty and there's a deep, solid snowpack.

Snowpack observations and trip reports are found here.
recent activity


Ted was able to trigger a few shallow wind drifts along the leeward side of upper elevation ridges... otherwise, no significant avalanche activity to report from yesterday. More on his trip to Humpy Creek found here.

A full list of Uinta avalanche activity is found here.

Avalanche Problem 1
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

Spring... it's the waxing and waning... a fight between winter and summer. For the near-term we'll need to focus on winter-like avalanche conditions as a quick hitting storm will create fresh drifts, sensitive to our additional weight. Found on leeward slopes facing the north half of the compass, today's shallow and predictble drifts are isolated to upper elevation terrain in the wind zone. As always, look for and avoid any fat, rounded piece of snow, especially if it feels or sounds hollow like a drum. Fortunately, this is an easy avalanche problem to deal with. Lose a little elevation and you lose the problem.
Avalanche Problem 2
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description


I found this naturally triggered cornice during my travels from Weber Canyon to Chalk Creek yesterday. My best guess on timing is earlier in the week when temperatures skyrocketed. While today's corni might not be overly sensitive, these boxcar monsters are completely unpredictable and should definitely be avoided.
weather

A storm system brings snow through the day with 2"-4" expected. This mornings southwest winds gust into the 30's and 40's, but switch to the northwest during the mid afternoon and decrease with the passage of a cold front. High temperatures reach into the low 40's and dip into the 20's tonight. Snow quickly ends this evening as the storm passes. After a quiet Sunday, the next chance for snow is Monday.
general announcements

Remember your information can save lives. If you see anything we should know about, please participate in the creation of our own community avalanche advisory by submitting snow and avalanche conditions. You can call me directly at 801-231-2170, email craig@utahavalanchecenter.org

The information in this advisory is from the US Forest Service which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.

The information in this advisory expires 24 hours after the date and time posted, but will be updated by 7:00 AM on Sunday March 26th.