Avalanche forecast

Skyline

Issued Feb 28, 2021valid to Mar 1, 2021Utah Avalanche Center

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Avalanche danger

Alpine
Treeline
Below treeline

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Out of date — this forecast expired 5 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

HUMAN TRIGGERED AVALANCHES ARE LIKELY TODAY!

The avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE today.

New snow has been drifted by the wind and deposited onto slopes that have an unstable snowpack. Many of these slopes just need a trigger like a skier or snowmobiler.

Your only option to stay out of avalanches is to avoid steep slopes. You are safe if you stay off of and out from underneath slopes that are steeper than 30˚.

Avalanche problems

Persistent Slabs
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
Alpine
Treeline
Below treeline
Likelihood
Very Likely
Size
4
A Persistent Weak Layer of loose faceted snow remains at the base of our snowpack. It has gained a little strength after the large storm a week ago but it should not be trusted. You will probably not see many of the "red flags" that we look for like collapsing and shooting cracks. The biggest red flag is knowing the base is full of sugary loose snow. The second is that we just added weight with the new snow and the wind was blowing and drifting the snow which loads slopes much more rapidly than just snow falling straight from the sky.

Today is a typical type of day for an avalanche accident. We have some fresh snow and it's going to be a nice sunny day. But under the fresh powder the snowpack structure remains weak and dangerous. The new snow and sunny skies may be too enticing for some folks to restrain from getting onto steep powder filled slopes.

Special Announcement

There's another great video out that highlights the importance of getting trained about avalanche safety. Klim put together this great video. The guys from Snow Big Deal, one of our local Klim dealers, help us a great deal with avalanche safety and are always involved when we need help teaching people how to use avalanche gear.

Recent Activity

I have not heard of any avalanche activity from Saturday. There was a snowmobile fatality recently near Montpelier Idaho. Our forecasters from Logan went up to do the accident investigation. This is relative to our area because the snowpack is very similar. Below is a really well done video about what happened.

Snow and Weather

Current Conditions: The small storm that moved through dropped a few more inches on Saturday bringing storm totals up to about 5 inches in many locations. Overnight temperatures were once again in the low single digits. Gusty conditions from Saturday look like they've subsided. Clouds are breaking. Riding conditions are quite good.

Mountain Weather: We should see a good amount of sun today especially this afternoon with high temperatures in the mid teens. Northwest wind should continue to slow through the day. We'll see mild weather through mid week then perhaps a shot of snow around Thursday night.