Buy a lift ticket and help fund avalanche forecasting and education. More details here -

CNN launched 24 hour news back in the 80s, but you can get 24 hour avalanche info - and contribute to it - on our various Twitter and Instagram #utavy, #waobs, and up in Ogden #ogdenavalanche feeds. Check it out -

Skies are partly-becoming-mostly cloudy. Temps are out of the ice-box with the mercury readings in the mid to upper teens - a far cry from yesterday morning's bone-numbing temps at 5 to 10° F below zero. The southwesterly winds picked up and are now blowing 15-20mph. The most exposed anemometers with direct "line-of-sight" to the southwesterlies spin 25-30mph with gusts to near 40.

Greatest snow on Earth? The skiing and riding conditions are the stuff dreams are made of.

Week in Review by Greg Gagne

The New Years holiday weekend featured clear skies and Low avalanche hazard. Beginning late Sunday night, a storm system came in that lasted through Tuesday morning. Storm totals in the Cottonwoods and Park City mountains were upwards of 2' with close to 2" of water (SWE). This low density snow fell on a preserved layer of near surface facets and surface hoar. Although there was one skier-triggered slide reported on Monday that failed on this layer, most avalanche activity through Tuesday was only sluffing within the storm snow as the low density snow was not acting as a cohesive slab.

On Wednesday and Thursday the UAC issued an avalanche warning with the arrival of a storm system that brought dense snow and strong winds. The Ogden mountains northward received the brunt of the snowfall with over 2' of snow and widespread avalanche activity. The Cottonwoods and Park City mountains received 12-18". The Provo mountains received 29" with 4.5" of water, and went through a significant natural avalanche cycle on all aspects and elevations Wednesday and overnight into Thursday.

There are several excellent observations from this past week that provide useful information as you prepare for your weekend plans.

Some explosive testing in the backcountry yielded few to no results, but observers in the backcountry reported only minor sluffing in the upper few inches of the low density snow. Pic: Mark White. (Also congrats Mark and Marla for the 14th anniversary of recovering a full burial of a solo skier in Cardiff Fork of BCC).

There was a close call with a skier-triggered slide on Hoyt Peak in the Uintas on Thursday. This occurred on a steep northeast aspect at 10000'. The party submitted an observation from this incident. We greatly appreciate all observations that we receive, especially those involving avalanches. Remember that your information helps save lives.

Buckle your seat belt. A series of powerful storms with a good moisture tap is set to engulf the state. For tomorrow, we'll start off wet, warm, and windy with alternating ripples of warm and cold features through at least mid-week. Snow will turn to freezing rain and then rain in the various valley and mountain valleys with a rain-snow line reaching toward 8500' by Sunday evening. The mountains may see heavy, dense snowfall Sunday into Monday with a following cold front Monday afternoon.

In the meantime, we'll see increasing clouds, warming temps and advancing southwest winds today. Temps will rise to near 20°F and the 30F at 10,000' and 8000', respectively. Southwest winds will blow 25-35mph by midday into the afternoon. Light snowfall may begin by early evening.

Now, you don't want to put your eggs in to one basket (and other disclaimers, etc, etc), but one "grouping' of weather models suggests - well - see for yourself.