The Wasatch Backcountry Alliance has released a Public Notice regarding access to Grizzly Gulch in upper Little Cottonwood Canyon. Please give it a quick read
HERE. Spruces Campground weather station, located in Big Cottonwood Canyon, at an elevation of 7,400' and reports a mountain temperature of 16 °F this morning. Reynolds Peak weather station sits 2,000' above the Spruces Campgound and records a mountain temperature of 39°F. That's a 23-degree difference in temperature and has to be one of the stronger temperature inversions I've seen in a while and shows the high pressure (no weather) pattern we are in.
Today, we will see plenty of sunshine and temperatures climbing into the upper 30s and low 40s °F. Winds will remain from the southwest and blow 5-15 mph. Our extended forecast calls for the possibility of a few inches of snow late Monday into Tuesday (fingers crossed). Looking further out, it's not good.
The Diurnal cycle (day to night) is taking it's toll on our snow surface. Temperature changes and the energy balance of incoming shortwave radiation and longwave outward radiation are causing our adolescent snowpack to deteriorate, becoming weaker and weaker and more faceted every day. The good news is the riding and turning conditions are pretty good. The bad news is we are developing a nasty weak layer that will haunt us in the future.
Explosive work in representable backcountry terrain produced no results yesterday. In the backcountry, no new avalanches were reported.
