We will be holding a women's only avalanche awareness class this Thursday evening and Saturday day. It's a great time to take a class despite the low snowpack. Please visit our website for more info or to register: Click HERE

There is a level 2 or Moderate avalanche danger in the backcountry, and heightened avalanche conditions exist on many drifted upper and mid elevation slopes.. I've included a few pockets with a higher level 3 danger on lee drifted upper elevation slopes. You could trigger dangerous persistent slab avalanches on slopes where a slab of stiffer snow has built up on a base consisting of very weak sugary or faceted snow. Shallow wind slab avalanches are possible on steep slopes in areas exposed to recent drifting, and these could sweep out and entrain significant quantities of weak sugary underlying old snow... Evaluate the snow and terrain carefully today and avoid steep slopes with accumulations of drifted fresh snow. You'll find safer conditions in sheltered and lower angled terrain, on south facing slopes with a solid sun-crust under a little powder, and at lower elevations....

Only an inch or two of fresh snow fell in the Central Bear River Range overnight. The Tony Grove Snotel at 8400' reports a couple inches of accumulation containing 2/10ths of an inch of water... Currently there is 33 inches of total snow on the ground containing 51% of average water for the date, and its 15 degrees this morning. I'm reading 7 degrees at the 9700' Campbell Scientific Logan Peak weather station. Winds yesterday afternoon were cranking out 30+mph hourly averages from the southwest, but they shifted from the northwest overnight and diminished somewhat.

You'll find very shallow, early season snow conditions and a substantial risk of hitting shallowly buried rocks, stumps, or down trees if you venture off the beaten path. There is no base and it's easy to sink deeply into the sugary and rotten snow once you break through the rime, wind, or sun crusts near the surface in most areas....

A handful of unmanageable persistent slab avalanches were reported or observed in the Central Wasatch and Uinta Ranges in the last several days, (go to our current conditions page for more details) Locally: no avalanches were reported since skiers remote triggered a good sized hard slab on the east side of White Pine Knob in upper Bunchgrass Canyon on the first day of 2012...

A few more flakes are possible this morning, but very little to no additional snow is forecast.. 8000' high temperatures will approach 20 degrees today with a moderate northerly breeze.. The high pressure system will reestablish over our area as we head into the later half of the week, and the forecast through the coming weekend looks pretty bleak and dry. The models are hinting at a major change in the weather pattern next week, with far northern Utah likely receiving some snow from a zonal flow with imbedded quick hitting and intense disturbances taking aim at the Utah/Idaho State Line....

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Please send us your observations from the backcountry especially if you see or trigger an avalanche, but also even if you don't.. go to avalanche and snow observations. You can also call me directly at 435-757-7578 or leave us a message at our office, 801-524-5304.... And, you can always send us a simple email by clicking HERE

I will update this advisory by around 7:30 in the morning on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.....

This advisory is from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.