Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains Issued by Craig Gordon for Friday - March 30, 2018 - 3:04am
bottom line

While not widespread and making up a small potion of the terrain available to ride in today, a MODERATE avalanche danger exists in mid and upper elevation terrain, particularly in the wind zone, above treeline. Deep and dangerous, human triggered dry snow avalanches are POSSIBLE on all steep wind drifted slopes, especially those facing the north half of the compass, and particularly those with an easterly component to their aspect.

LOW avalanche danger is found on most south facing terrain and wind sheltered slopes.
special announcement

We couldn't get out on the snow without the great support from Polaris, Ski Doo, and Arctic Cat as well as KTM and Timbersled. Our local dealers make it happen. Tri-City Performance, Weller Recreation, Northstar's Ultimate Outdoors, Big Pine and Morgan Valley Polaris. We use these machines to monitor the snowpack across the state of Utah. We also use these machines to teach life-saving classes.
current conditions

Skies are clear and an amazing moon awaits as you walk out the door this morning. Temperatures hover in the low 20's and westerly winds are blowing in the 20's and 30's. Sunny slopes offer smooth, suportable, corn-like conditions that soften with strong springtime sun. Whilst on the other half of the compass, soft shallow snow is found on upper elevation wind sheltered, shady slopes.

Above are 24 hour temperatures and snow depth near Trial Lake along with winds and temperatures from Windy Peak. More remote Uinta weather stations are found here

A great body of recent trip reports, observations, and snow data here.

recent activity

We were able to trigger a few shallow, yet sensitive, fresh drifts along the leeward side of Double Hill yesterday.



Ted found this large natural slide triggered late last week during the big wind storm. Breaking rather wide and a couple feet deep, it's old news, but gives you an insight to how this snowpack reacts to a big load of wind and water. More on Ted's travels along with with a full list of recent avalanches 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

Over 48 hours of steady west and northwest winds, continued whipping up a fresh batch of drifts, like the one pictured above. Mostly prominent on the leeward side of upper elevation ridges, there might be a cross-loaded pocket around a terrain feature like a chute or gully wall. In any case, today you'll want to look for and avoid fat, rounded pieces of snow, especially if they sound and feel hollow like a drum. Once triggered, today's wind slabs have the potential to break deeper and wider than you might expect.
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

Deep slabs-

They're tricky, they're dangerous, they're unpredictable, and now this notoriously deceptive avalanche dragon came alive late last week on the eastern front. The good news is... the weekend cold snap welded the snowpack in place and most of these instabilities appear to be dormant for the moment. The bad news is... our usual observations regarding snow stability often give misleading, green light feedback. That means tracks on the slope, cornice drops, or slope cuts are unreliable methods of testing the slope. In fact, this strong, cohesive slab often allows us to get well out onto the slope before it fails and now the snow is breaking to the ground taking out the entire seasons snowpack.

So how do you manage an unmanageable avalanche problem? Well... we simply avoid it. Steep, rock, mid and upper elevation terrain facing the north half of the compass are prime suspects as are slopes that already avalanched this season, and terrain that has remained thin all year. So here's the exit strategy... if you're looking for soft snow and safe riding, simply tone down your slope angles and avoid terrain with steep slopes hanging above you.
weather

The graphic above says it all... high pressure builds, producing a string on spring-like weather. Expect partly cloudy skies with temperatures climbing into the 40's and overnight lows dipping into the 20's. Winds start to increase late this afternoon and evening ahead of a very weak disturbance that clips northern Utah tomorrow. Other than stronger winds and some additional clouds, this disturbance brings little change in the weather.
general announcements

The information in this advisory expires 24 hours after the date and time posted, but will be updated by 7:00 AM Saturday March 31st, 2018.

If you're getting out and about, please let me know what you're seeing especially if you see or trigger and avalanche. I can be reached at craig@utahavalanchecenter.org or 801-231-2170

It's also a good time to set up one of our very popular avalanche awareness classes. Reach out to me and I'll make it happen.

This information does not apply to developed ski areas or highways where avalanche control is normally done. This advisory is from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.