Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Skyline Area Mountains Issued by Brett Kobernik for Sunday - February 11, 2018 - 6:04am
bottom line

The avalanche danger today is MODERATE on slopes steeper than 35˚ that face west, north and east above 9500' in elevation. The weight of the new snow especially in areas where the wind has drifted it into deeper slabs may cause the old snow near the ground to collapse and cause avalanches especially if provoked by a person.




current conditions

The small storm that rolled through on Saturday gave us 4 to 6" of new snow, perhaps a bit more in areas south of about Ephraim Canyon. Northwest wind was blustery during the storm but has slowed dramatically. Overnight temperatures dipped into the single digits in the high country.

Avalanche Problem 1
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

Weak sugary faceted snow near the ground remains our main concern. The Skyline picked up near 10" of snow since Monday along with some gusty wind. The question is have we added enough weight over the weak snow near the ground to make it dangerous? The answer is not clear. What we know is that the type of weak snow we have near the ground has the potential to cause avalanches every time we get new snow or the wind blows the snow into drifts. My instinct tells me that we have not reached the threshold yet and avalanche activity today will be spotty.
weather

We'll see a nice day today with mountain temperatures getting up to around 30˚ and light wind and mostly clear skies. A small storm will roll through on Monday which looks like it will give us a few more inches. Another little impulse is shaping up for around Thursday.
general announcements

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