Abajos

A few inches of new snow has not changed things all that much and the overall danger remains MODERATE. Deep and dangerous human-triggered avalanches failing on a buried persistent weak layer remain the primary concern. You are most likely to trigger one of these avalanches on steep terrain near and above treeline that faces NW through N through SE. Thin snowpack areas around rock outcroppings, sparse trees, or along slope margins are the most likely trigger points. Most S and SW facing terrain near treeline, and all low elevation terrain has generally LOW danger but you cold still trigger an avalanche in areas of more extreme terrain.

It's a balmy and blustery morning up there with 2"-3" of new snow. Southerly winds overnight blew in the 20-25 mph range with gusts into the 40's. Look for mostly cloudy skies today and continued breezy SW winds shifting to NW later today. High temps will be near 30F. High pressure moves in tomorrow and temps will soar into the mid 40's under sunny skies. A weak shortwave will clip by to the north on Sat night with warm and sunny skies again on Sunday. After that, all eyes are on a series of troughs and a coming unsettled weather pattern for next week. Models have yet to come up with a consistent solution.

NWS Weather Forecast.

Snow totals at Buckboard Flat (8924')

Snow totals at Camp Jackson (8858')

Snowpack Discussion

Warm temperatures and time have helped consolidate the snowpack, but weak layers are still present, especially in shady areas at higher elevations. A poor snowpack structure still exists and on slopes facing NW-N-SE a slab 1'-3' thick exists on top of buried, weak, facets. These slabs are becoming harder to trigger but once released they would produce deep and dangerous avalanches. Likely trigger points include shallower areas along slope margins, around sparse trees or rock outcroppings, or on repeat running slide paths.

Steep north-facing terrain is the most likely place you can still trigger a deep, persistent-slab avalanche. This is an aerial photo of a NW aspect of Jackson Ridge taken on 2/23/2021. You can see that snow depth is variable, and winds have drifted snow, creating dangerous slabs over buried weak layers.

Information on outdoor recreation - The State of Utah created this webpage with information about recreating on both state and federal public lands during the current health crisis.

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