6:00 a.m. weather data:

24 Hour Snow 0" 72 Hour Snow 2" Base Depth at Gold Basin 41" Wind W 5-10 Temp 16F

Dry and sunny conditions and steadily warming temperatures are in store for this weekend. A much anticipated change in the weather pattern begins on Monday as a deepening trough begins to drop down over the region. Several bands of precipitation are expected to move through the state through midweek with Wednesday currently looking like the wettest for southern Utah. Do your rain dance, praise Ullr, or burn some skis and let's hope this winter turns back around before spring!

NWS Weather Forecast for the La Sal Mountains

Gold Basin SNOTEL site (10,000')

With snow finally in the forecast, our attention remains focused on the loose, sugary, faceted snow that has formed near the surface during this extended period of high pressure. This loose, faceted snow will likely become our next weak layer in the snowpack and how much snow we get will determine how reactive it becomes. The weakest snow can be found on shady, northerly aspects right around treeline and below. In some of these areas, the entire snowpack has become loose and faceted. Above treeline, conditions are much more variable ranging from from wind scoured and sun crusted, to boiler plate. Where crusts are thin, the snow is faceting underneath. This makes mapping of this future weak layer tricky. Generally speaking, the more sheltered the area, the more likely the the surface is to be weak and faceted. When new snow finally comes, slope by slope analysis will be required when getting into steep terrain.