Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Skyline Area Mountains Issued by Brett Kobernik for Friday - March 30, 2018 - 6:53am
bottom line

The majority of the terrain along the Skyline has a LOW to MODERATE danger. Watch for recently formed drifts as they may still crack out on you today. There is still a chance that a person could trigger a very dangerous avalanche that breaks into weak snow near the ground on slopes steeper than 35 degrees that face northwest, north and east above about 9500'. Likelihood of triggering something is low, consequences are high.




current conditions

The wind has been fairly strong over the last few days and has been drifting snow. You will find extensive wind damaged snow through the range. Temperatures have been relatively cool but on a gradual warming trend with ridge top highs in the mid 30s on Thursday. This warming trend will continue through the weekend.

recent activity

The wind drifted snow formed fresh drifts during the week which were sensitive to snowmobilers. I spoke with a group who were up in the Ephraim Canyon zone on Wednesday. They triggered numerous fresh drifts. They were relatively small slopes and didn't pose a huge threat but you could get unlucky in the right situation and get buried. Pockets like these may still be sensitive today.

weather

We'll see the gradual warming trend continue through the weekend with fairly nice weather in store. Nice weather will continue into next week with potentially some minor disturbances mid week. Weather models are advertising a larger storm for next weekend, April 7th and 8th, stay tuned.

From the National Weather Service:

Friday: Sunny, with a high near 37. West northwest wind 8 to 16 mph.
Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 26. West wind 11 to 18 mph.
Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 42. West wind 11 to 16 mph.
Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 27. West northwest wind 15 to 20 mph decreasing to 9 to 14 mph after midnight.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 43.

general announcements

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