Forecast for the Skyline Area Mountains

Brett Kobernik
Issued by Brett Kobernik for
Wednesday, December 7, 2022
DANGEROUS AVALANCHE CONDITIONS EXIST!!
The avalanche danger is rated at CONSIDERABLE today. Human triggered avalanches are likely on steep slopes on many aspects in the mid and upper elevations.
Your only defense is to avoid avalanche terrain. Stay off slopes steeper than 30˚ and make sure there are not steep slopes above you. These avalanches can be triggered from a distance.
Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
Extreme
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Special Announcements
FREE AVALANCHE AWARENESS PRESENTATION: Weds, Dec 7 at Tucker High Adventure Tours in Beaver, UT. MORE DETAILS HERE
Join the Utah Avalanche Center and the Division of Outdoor Recreation to celebrate the Fourth Annual Avalanche Awareness week, from December 4 - December 11. CLICK HERE to view the full list of events for the week.
Weather and Snow
Current Conditions: Temperatures briefly got into the 20s Tuesday and have dropped back into the teens. The wind has been calm to light in speed from the south. Riding conditions are excellent.
Mountain Weather: A storm system to our south will feed a little moisture into our area later today. Snowfall should start mid afternoon with a few inches expected. Temperatures should get into the low 20s and south or southeast wind will bump in speed slightly. Thursday looks like a pretty nice day with partly cloudy skies and highs into the 20s. A prolonged series of storms moves in Friday and we'll see a number of periods of snowfall into next week.
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Avalanche Problem #1
Persistent Weak Layer
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
A Persistent Weak Layer of sugary facets that formed in mid November is by far our biggest threat right now. Collapsing of the snowpack under foot is a regular occurrence during my fieldwork. The buried Persistent Weak Layer fails and you can actually feel the snow drop underneath you during some of these collapses. This is the same thing that happens when an avalanche releases. The only difference is that I am not on slopes that are steep enough to slide. This is the key to staying safe out there right now. You need to avoid being on or below steep slopes.
General Announcements
This forecast is from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This forecast describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.