Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Uintas Area Mountains Issued by Craig Gordon for Friday - December 23, 2016 - 3:42am
bottom line

Making up a small portion of the terrain available to ride in, at upper elevations in the wind zone, the avalanche danger is MODERATE today. Human triggered avalanches are POSSIBLE, especially on steep, wind drifted slopes facing the north half of the compass. Once triggered, today's avalanches have the potential to break deeper and wider than you might expect.

Lose some elevation and you lose the problem. Wind sheltered terrain offers generally LOW avalanche danger
special announcement

Avy education curious? Wanna know where our snowpack and stability trends are heading with a big storm on the doorstep? Or maybe the Christmas Blues and shopping season have got you down and you're looking for a little stoke in your life. If you answered Yes to any of these questions... you're not alone. Please join me and the Brighton Ski Patrol tonight at 5:00 at Brighton for our annual Avy Awareness Night.
current conditions

Skies are partly cloudy and temperatures in the mid teens and low 20's. Hardly a breath of wind at most locations, even along the high peaks they're almost a moot point, blowing just 10-15 mph. Wednesday's weak, little cold front delivered an inch or two of white paint and this morning you'll continue to find cold, creamy snow on a mostly supportable base. Riding and turning conditions are about as good as they get.

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

Recent observations are found here.


JG was in Upper Weber Canyon and found stable snow, though he has a few concerns with weakening surface snow and deeper buried issues in the pack. His take on things is found here.

Over near Duke Ridge, MJ was finding a similar snow structure. We all seem to be on the same page and his viewpoint is found here.
recent activity

No news of the weird from our hood... meanwhile in the Wasatch though.

Looks like a Uinta avalanche doesn't it? Two extremely lucky riders came out on top after a very close call in Little Cottonwood Canyon late Monday. (M. Staples photo)

A brilliant write up is found here.

A full list of recent 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

No reports of the weird in this department, but I bet there's a pocket or two still lurking out there that just needs a little coaxing. Once it fails... all bets are off. Found mostly on steep, rocky, upper elevation slopes facing the north half of the compass, todays slabs may be harder to initiate, but once triggered, have the potential to break into weak layers now buried deep in our snowpack.
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

Winds are expected to ramp up late in the day and our relatively benign wind slabs will become more reactive to our additional weight by about dinnertime. Today's fresh drifts are gonna be pretty straight-forward and easy to detect by their fat, rounded appearance. Found along the leeward side of upper elevation ridges and around terrain features like chutes, gullies, and sub-ridges, today's shallow drifts will predictably break at or below your skis, board, or sled.

weather

Increasing clouds and gusty winds ramp up later today and tonight as a winter storm begins to approach from the west. Highs reach into the low to mid 30's with west and southwest winds cranking into the 50's by days end. Overnight lows dip into the mid 20's. Light snow develops overnight and then the storm kicks in as a cold front arrives tomorrow afternoon. A great video synopsis describing the storm is found here.
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 [email protected]

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 Saturday December 24th.