This morning, mountain temperatures hover in the high 30s to low 40s °F under overcast skies here in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Anemometers on the highest ridgelines logged winds in the high 20s to mid 30s mph out of the southwest, with gusts reaching into the 50s mph overnight into this morning.
Today, expect moderate to strong southwest winds. Our same pattern of unseasonably warm temperatures into the 40s °F and overcast skies continues throughout today. No precipitation forecast throughout the day, with spits and spats of rain starting late this evening.
Tomorrow evening into the weekend, an atmospheric river pulse rides in off SW flow from the Pacific—a unique pattern for us this season. Snow levels will start near 10,000 feet until early Thursday, before cooler air slowly makes its way into the Wasatch through Saturday. While the timing's off if you're into Santa, keep your fingers crossed for low snow lines and the higher end of storm totals.
Active weather is exciting, but don't forget about what's already out there—observers noted creamy, supportable turns yesterday, and Trent and I found 8/10 quality graupel pow (after, admittedly, skinning through the rain). Resorts are spinning lifts, there's enough coverage to travel to...a lot..of places, and the dense surface snow is more helpful to keep you afloat over rocks and logs than facets would be. Call me an optimist, but if your perception of the conditions has kept you from getting out yet...maybe try it and see what you find. The hardest part is getting your boots on.
Update: UAC Staff is heading out to Park City today to take a look at the slide that two snowboarders remotely triggered an avalanche on a NE aspect near 9400 feet on Murdock Peak in a wind-loaded area along the Park City Ridgeline on Sunday. The slab avalanche ran on weak snow near the ground, was roughly 12 inches deep, 50 feet wide, and ran over cliffs and into trees. This is bullseye info of where you’re most likely to run into problems: higher, northerly slopes where the wind has put a denser slab of snow on top of weak, old snow. You can see their full observation HERE.
Collapsing near Empire Pass, propagating test results in LCC, damp snow near the base of the snowpack, and poor structure were all noted yesterday. Read all recent observations HERE.
