Today, Sunday April 12th will be our last scheduled advisory for the season. I'll post some general snowpack and avalanche information tips tomorrow.

Thank you… thank you… thank you. Thanks to everyone who was involved with or helped support this program. In particular- huge thanks to Ted Scroggin from the Evanston Ranger District for all his timely and accurate snow and avalanche observations and for helping to educate countless riders and skiers alike. He is an enormous asset to the community and I couldn’t pull this off without his help. Also, thanks to my good colleagues at the Avalanche Center, in particular to Grant Helgeson for all his hard work with both our Avy Essentials class and the Uinta County S&R field day.

In addition, big thanks to Utah State Parks for being such an awesome partner, helping to fund this and other snowmobile specific avalanche advisory programs, ultimately saving many lives. The support from our good friends at Tri-City Performance and Weller’s Recreation in partnership with Polaris and Ski-Doo is simply amazing. Their sleds enable us to get into more terrain, see more snow and ultimately issue more precise forecasts. Also, thanks to everyone from the Park City Powder Cats. The strong working partnership and information sharing conduit forged this year should be a model for all organizations in this business… thanks guys and gals!

Finally, thanks to all of you who consistently help this program. Whether attending fundraisers, lending a hand installing beacon training sites or sharing your avalanche insights and experience… I appreciate all the support!

At and above treeline on steep, wind loaded slopes, especially those with an easterly component there's a few wind slabs that will remain sensitive to the weight of a person today. In this type of terrain a MODERATE avalanche danger exists and human triggered avalanches are possible.

In addition, the danger of wet avalanches will rise from LOW this morning morning to MODERATE on steep, sunny slopes and human triggered wet slides and sluffs will be possible during the heat of the day.

April showers bring…. spring powder! Skies are clearing in the wake of yesterday’s storm system which deposited 2”-3” of new snow across the higher elevations. Northwest winds became a bit active overnight, blowing 30-50 mph along the high peaks, but began calming down around 4:00 this morning and are currently blowing 15-30 mph. Temperatures cooled into the low 20’s at 10,000’ and mid 20’s at 8,000’. The April storm cycle salvaged our season and the coverage is amazing. Today, you can expect dense spongy snow on sheltered upper elevation north facing slopes. Mid and low elevation south facing slopes will soften, providing a smooth, corn-like texture with a little sun and warming.

No new significant avalanche activity to report.

Click here for a list of recent avalanche activity in the Uinta's.

For more photos of recent avalanche activity click here

We might still see a lingering snow flurry or two, but in general high pressure is building and it’ll be a beautiful day in the mountains. Northwest winds will blow in the 30’s and 40’s along the ridges and begin to decrease later in the day. Highs at 8,000’ will be in the low 40’s and at 10,000’ in the mid 30’s. Overnight lows dip into the low 20’s. Sunny skies and slightly warmer temperatures are on tap for Monday and early Tuesday, then winter returns late Tuesday and lingers into Thursday. Looks like a good shot of snow in a cold, northwest flow.

Remember- your observations help to save other riders lives. So if you see or trigger any avalanches please let me know what your seeing. You can reach me at 801-231-2170 or craig@utahavalanchecenter.org

Also, Beacon Basin is up and running and located inside the orange fencing on the northeast corner of the Nobletts Trailhead.

The information in this advisory expires 24 hours after the date and time posted. I'll update this advisory with some general snowpack info on Monday April 13th.