Several inches of heavy snow fell in upper-elevation terrain last week, capping some wet snow from October still on north-facing slopes above about 8000' in elevation. A few clear, cold nights changed the heavy, damp snow into sugary, faceted grains, and now the snow is quite weak on high slopes facing all directions. A strong temperature gradient is driving rapid sublimation and "drying out" the snow, turning the snow grains into weak sugary facets. Although we found a bit more than a foot of sugary snow in upper-elevation terrain earlier in the week, there is still nowhere near enough for safe recreation.

*This from this morning's NWS forecast discussion: "Utah and southwest Wyoming will begin to transition into a cooler and wetter pattern from today forward as a series of
troughs take aim at the region. Mountain snow will be expected with each trough... "

In the Logan Zone, we can expect light snowfall this afternoon, becoming heavier tonight with 1 to 3 inches of accumulation possible. The wind will blow from the west 10 to 15 mph, and mountain temperatures will drop to around 15° F. A stronger storm is expected on Sunday, with 3 to 7 inches possible in the Central Bear River Range above 8000' in elevation.