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Forecast for the Skyline Area Mountains

Dave Kelly
Issued by Dave Kelly on
Tuesday morning, January 28, 2025
The avalanche danger is MODERATE on all mid and upper elevation slopes facing west through north and east. All other slopes have a LOW avalanche danger.
As the avalanche danger trends towards the lower end of moderate and the possibility of triggering avalanches failing into the weak sugary facets goes down, it does not change the consequences of triggering an avalanche failing 1'-3' deep.
If you avoid terrain over 30° in steepness, you'll find better travel and avoid the persistent weak layer problem. If this layer of facets, particularly on high elevation west facing aspects has any recent wind loading that slope will be more suspect and to be avoided.
Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
Extreme
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Special Announcements
URGENT!! Battery replacement required for anyone who received batteries from one of our participating "Batteries for Beacons" shops. We've found that the Duracell Procell AAA batteries are too short in length and may not make contact in avalanche beacons causing them to malfunction. DETAILS HERE
Weather and Snow
Under mostly clear skies, trailhead temperatures are in the high teens °F and the 10,000' weather stations are in the mid-teens °F. Winds at the lowest weather stations are blowing lightly and the highest weather stations are blowing from the east in the 20's MPH.
Today, we should see mostly clear skies with high clouds and temperatures between 28-34°F. Winds will blow lightly at the lower elevations and from the east at the higher elevations 20 gusting to 30 MPH. East winds are hard to forecast and I wouldn't be surprised if we saw higher gusts from the east and northeast later this afternoon.
Recent Avalanches
Yesterday, there were no reports of avalanches. Check out all observations HERE.
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Avalanche Problem #1
Persistent Weak Layer
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
The likelihood of triggering a persistent weak layer avalanche has gone down, however the consequences remain the same. It may not take much additional wind or new snow to tip the scales and it will be possible for a human to trigger an avalanche failing 1'-3' deep. This will be more likely in thin, rocky, locations on steep terrain (greater than 30°) facing west-north-east at mid and upper elevations.
UAC Director Paige Pagnucco write about the risk of persistent weak layer avalanches in her blog post HERE.
Photo below of weak faceted snow in Spring City Canyon.
Avalanche Problem #2
Wind Drifted Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
With continued east winds there will be shallow wind drifts on all aspects in the upper elevation terrain. Look for and avoid smooth, pillowy, rounded features of snow as these are the freshest most sensitive wind drifts.
Photo (Magerl) of 4" wind drift sitting on top of weak faceted snow.
Additional Information
General Announcements
This forecast is from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This forecast describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.
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