About a foot-and-a-half of new snow fell at upper elevations in the Bear River Range Wednsesday and Thursday, with 2" SWE recorded at the 8400' Tony Grove Snotel. It's 27°F and there is 94 inches of total snow at the site with 126% of normal Snow Water Equivalent. It's 23°F at the 9700' CSI Logan Peak weather station, and southwest winds are currently blowing around 22 mph.
Rapidly warming daytime temperatures and intense high angled sun will cause increasing danger of loose wet avalanches in steep sunny terrain. Heightened avalanche conditions may become dangerous on very steep slopes, and some natural wet activity is possible. Avalanches are unlikely on lower elevation slopes since only a few inches of new snow accumulated, and the remaining underlying old snow is solidly refrozen.
Expect fair and sunny weather in the mountains again today with fairly light west winds. Another weather disturbance will affect northern and central Utah tomorrow before yet another storm tracks across Arizona and southern Utah on Tuesday. Temperatures near seasonal averages are expected through the early part of the week.
It will be clear and sunny in the mountains again today, with 8500' high temperatures around 43°F, and westerly winds will blow 5 to 13 mph. It will be partly cloudy tonight, with a low around 26°F and 7 to 10 mph west wind. Snow showers are likely tomorrow afternoon, and some thunder is also possible. Skies will be mostly cloudy, with high temperatures around 44°F and 10 mph west wind.
We triggered some small loose avalanches of moist new snow in steep north facing terrain and noticed a few fresh natural wet loose avalanches on very steep sunny slopes in the White Pine Canyon area yesterday afternoon.
Observers report triggering a few 12" to 16" deep soft slab avalanches of wind drifted snow Thursday on steep upper elevation slopes facing north, northeast, and east. The soft avalanches on very steep slopes were expected, slow moving, and manageable, and nobody got caught.
An unintentionally triggered soft wind slab in Rock Bowl, on an east facing slope at about 9200'. The 15" deep, 200+' wide avalanche was fairly slow moving and allowed the rider to escape.
