Forecast: Abajos Area Mountains - Utah Avalanche Center

Forecast for the Abajos Area Mountains

Issued by Eric Trenbeath on
Thursday morning, January 8, 2026

NWS has issued a Winter Weather Advisory for the Abajo Mountains with 6-10 inches of new snow possible. This will cause the avalanche danger to rise, primarily on steep slopes at mid and upper elevations that face NW-N-NE-E-SE. In these areas, human triggered avalanches involving fresh deposits of wind drifted snow are possible. Fresh drifts are recognizable by their smooth, rounded appearance and cracking is a sign of instability. Suspect steep slopes that have more than about 8 inches of new snow. In isolated areas, triggered wind slabs may step down into weak, sugary snow at the base of the snowpack causing a deeper and more dangerous avalanche.

Low

Moderate

Considerable

High

Extreme

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Weather and Snow

NWS forecast for the Abajo Mountains.

Wind speed and direction on Abajo Peak.

Snow totals and temps at Buckboard Flat (8924')

Snow totals and temps at Camp Jackson (8858')

Abajo Observations

January 8

New snow in the Abajo Mountains today will be the first in weeks and conditions remain very thin with only 3 inches on the ground at Camp Jackson, and 7 inches in lower North Creek at the Buckboard SNOTEL site. Shady slopes up high have between 18-24 inches of snow.

December 27

There has been little change to conditions in the Abajo Mountains as the New Year's storm event passed by without a trace. I took a trip up to Abajo Peak to de-rime the wind station on Saturday, December 27 (read my complete observation here). After two weeks of record warm temperatures at 20°F+ degrees above normal, S-SW aspects are mostly melted out down to bare ground. Spotty snow cover remains on more sheltered SE and W aspects. NW-N-E facing slopes have anywhere from 6" at 9000' and 20-24" at 11,000'. Rain to above 11,000 feet on Christmas Day crusted over all surfaces and a thick coat of rime covers the trees. The entire snowpack below the rain crust consists of loose, sugary, faceted grains. This unstable base is currently lacking a slab and human triggered avalanches are unlikely.

Additional Information

It's never too early to start thinking about avalanches. Here are a few things to consider doing:

Learn online. We have over 5 hours of free online learning at the Know Before You Go website
Check out the upcoming in-person Know Before You Go events HERE
Sign up for an on-snow class
Check out the UAC's education progression HERE
Get your avalanche rescue gear ready for winter. Put fresh batteries in your transceiver and update the firmware. Inspect your shovel and probe. Get your airbag backpack ready by possibly doing a test deployment and updating the firmware if it is an electric version or getting your canister refilled if it's not electronic.

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.

Forecast for the Abajos Area Mountains

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