This morning, it's 35° F at the Tony Grove Snotel at 8400 feet, with 24 inches of total snow. Winds are sustained from the west, gusting to around 40 mph on Logan Peak, but there is little drifting. It's a cool 27° F on Paris Peak, with 25 mph winds from the southwest. It's 28° F in Logan. Last weekend's storm deposited a dense slab of heavy snow, with nearly 3 inches of SWE, on top of widespread, very weak faceted snow from November.

Many slopes in upper and mid-elevations are now plagued by very poor snowpack structure, with a dense slab overlying a sugary, weak layer lacking cohesion. Although obvious signs of instability like cracking and whumpfing are now much less frequent than last weekend, snowpit stability tests earlier in the week indicated potential for slab avalanches to propagate across slopes. We are dealing with a persistent weak layer that, as the name suggests, could be a problem for a while.

Tuesday's snow stability tests in the Northern Bear River Range near Copenhagen Basin showed potential for avalanches to propagate, and continued instability in some areas...Below is a video of snow stability tests from the Emigration Creek area on December 9.

NWS Forecast Discussion: High pressure will be in place through the weekend, with dry conditions and temperatures around 10-20° F warmer than normal. -Unsettled weather looks to make a return to northern Utah by the middle of next week, though specific details remain uncertain at this time.

Today: Sunny, with a high near 37° F. Wind from the west 6 to 10 mph. Tonight: Mostly clear, with a steady temperature around 28° F. Wind from the west around 10 mph. Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 38. Wind from the west 6 to 8 mph.