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Forecast for the Abajos Area Mountains

Eric Trenbeath
Issued by Eric Trenbeath for
Sunday, February 13, 2022
The avalanche danger is LOW on all aspects and elevations and generally safe avalanche conditions exist. Watch for unstable snow on isolated terrain features, particularly in areas of rocky, more radical more extreme terrain.
It's also still very low tide out there. Beware of rocks, stumps, and deadfall lurking beneath the surface.
Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
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Special Announcements
We will be holding a Backcountry 101 course Feb 18, 19. It's a great introduction to understanding avalanche hazard and how to travel through the mountains safely. Go here for details and to register. And a huge thanks to our friends at Moab Gear Trader for their sponsorship of this course!
Weather and Snow
Conditions will remain dry and sunny while steadily warming through Monday. A Pacific trough will dig into the Great Basin Monday night into Tuesday bringing the first glimmer of hope we've seen in weeks. The position of the trough as it deepens and digs further south remains unclear and snow for our area remains uncertain.
Snow totals and temps at Buckboard Flat (8924')
Snow totals and temps at Camp Jackson (8858')
Snowpack
Over the past few weeks, the snow surface has been subject to the ravages of wind and sun and conditions are variable. Depths across the range average 2'-3' deep above about 9000' on northerly aspects while many south facing slopes are bare. Snow on northerly facing slopes has grown weak and sugary near the surface, and slopes that have held snow since October, also have a weak, sugary, faceted layer at the base of the snowpack. Human triggered avalanches are unlikely at this time, but this sugary, faceted snow is forming a weak base for future snow loads if and when they finally come. Matthew Cozart was up braving conditions on Saturday, read his report here.
The video below describes the weak, faceted snow we are finding near the surface in the La Sal Mountains.
General Announcements
Who's up for some free avalanche training? Get a refresher, become better prepared for an upcoming avalanche class, or just boost your skills. Go to https://learn.kbyg.org/ and scroll down to Step 2 for a series of interactive online avalanche courses produced by the UAC.
This forecast is from the U.S. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This forecast describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.
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