We are starting our normal daily operations this week which will include updating all of our normal products. This includes avalanche advisories for the Ogden, Salt Lake and Provo area mountains. All of our telephone lines will be updated daily including the early line which is option 8 on the 888 999 4019 number. We will also be updating our mountain weather forecast which is done around noon each day.

The avalanche danger is generally LOW. Again, keep in mind that we are expecting the avalanche danger to rise during the week.

The cold front on Saturday produced a trace to 3 inches of snow in the mountains. Overnight ridgetop temperatures were quite cold with many locations below zero and others in the low single digits. Ridgetop wind speeds have continued to taper off to hardly anything at the highest locations from the southwest.

There's been no new avalanche activity. Observations are the same as they've been; the higher elevation snowpack continues to deteriorate due to faceting. Yeah, we've had some fun poking jokes at our pathetic snowpack over the last few weeks. Terrible one liners like "the snow is so bad you can hear it recrystalizing" and threats of a fresh issue of Facets Magazine have kept us amused.

But with the anticipated snowfall through the upcoming week it's time to straighten up and start taking our weak snowpack serious. It seems like the question isn't "if" but "when" will we start seeing collapsing, propagating and avalanching. It obviously won't happen until we put more snow over the existing sugary grains. Once we start seeing snow, upper elevation northely terrain is not where you will want to go. It'll be hard since many of us are looking forward to getting on snow for the first time and that terrain is where there is the best cover. As I always preach, backcountry traveling is a constant practice of patience. The best plan is to wait till the slopes that have little snow right now fill in. This way you avoid the "junkshow" of rotton snow that will be sitting under a slab waiting for a trigger.

Today we could see a few lingering flurries with no real accumulation expected. Ridgetop highs will get into the mid teens and we'll see light winds from a westerly direction. A storm system will effect our area tonight through Tuesday. I'm optimistic we'll see 6 to 10" of snow on Monday in a southwest flow. We could pick up a little more on Tuesday. There looks like there will be a slight disturbance on Wednesday and then a system shaping up for next weekend.

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UDOT highway avalanche control work info can be found by calling (801) 975-4838. Our statewide toll free line is 1-888-999-4019 (early morning, option 8).

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We appreciate avalanche and snow observations. If there’s something we should know about give us a call at (801) 524-5304 or 1-800-662-4140, or email us at uac@utahavalanchecenter.org. (Fax 801-524-6301).

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

Drew Hardesty will update this forecast Monday morning. And thanks for calling.