The snowfall from the 3-4' storm from the week of February 20 settled out by Saturday Feb 25 and treated backcountry skiers and riders with a weekend of deep, soft snow with generally stable conditions. Many steep lines were skied with the only concern of sluffing in the loose, dry snow.

By later Sunday afternoon, wind speeds increased ahead of yet another storm that initially arrived on a southwest flow, but switched to northwest later on Monday. Heavy snowfall during the day on Monday led to a natural cycle during periods of intense precipitation. Light snow continued overnight on Monday, with a weaker system later on Tuesday that added several more inches of snow.

Storm totals (and water equivalent) since Sunday evening included:

• Cottonwoods: 16 - 28" (1.15 - 1.7")
• Park City mountains: 19" (1.6")
• Ogden mountains: 17 - 28" (0.5 - 1.5")
• Provo mountains 10" (0.75")

Stability rapidly increased by Tuesday was well with most observers only noting loose sluffs in very steep terrain. West and northwest winds also began to increase later Tuesday and into Wednesday morning, with wind-affected and drifted snow in the mid and upper elevations. These drifts were sensitive earlier in the day on Wednesday, but had largely settled out and were mostly unreactive by Thursday. Warm temperatures and strong sun on Thursday created loose wet avalanche activity on east, south, and west aspects.

February totals from Alta Guard (courtesy of Mark Sauer) are 114" of snow with 9.0" of water. This exceeds the average of 81.4" and is the 8th snowiest February on record. Also of note, the seasonal snowfall at Alta Guard is currently 413" and is the first time it has topped 400" for a full season since 2010-11.