Sunday will be our last daily morning forecast for the season. We will issue intermittent updates and publish observations through May 1st.

Light, low density snow continues to fall in the mountains this morning. As of 6AM, the upper Cottonwoods have received 4-8" of about 5% density snow. The Park City, Provo, and Ogden area mountains picked up 2-4" overnight. Ben Williams from the Alta avalanche office noted that the stellars are extra sparkly this morning. I believe it.

Winds are blowing 10-15mph from the west-northwest except along the highest peaks and ridgelines, where they're humming at 25-35mph with gusts to 50. The mercury dropped to 0°F at 11k as foretold but trailheads are in the teens.

Skies will trend partly cloudy by midday and I expect the blustery winds - even up high - to lose steam. It'll be a pleasant February day in the mountains, but with a much higher sun angle that may, just may, start to dampen the new snow on some westerly facing aspects by late afternoon. The best skiing and riding will be on very smooth, low angle slopes. Too steep and you'll find it a bit scratchy and/or possibly in a slide-for-life situation.

For the weekend, we'll see mostly sunny skies and temperatures on a warming trend. Winds should remain on good behaviour. There is some potential for additional snowfall with a mid-week storm, but I won't hold my breath.

It's not all doom and gloom. While the low and mid-elevations never really came in this winter, the upper elevations still hold 85-100" of snow on the ground, if you're willing to work for it.

photos of stellar dendrite snowflakes, Doug Wewer