SAVE THE DATES!
Wednesday, December 4 - USU KBYG (Know Before You Go) Night, USU ARC
Today, people could trigger small wind slab avalanches in the backcountry. Weak, sugary, or faceted snow from early November is widespread in upper-elevation terrain. Our pre-Thanksgiving storm was a nice refresher but may have overloaded some upper-elevation slopes with poor snowpack structure. In exposed terrain, the wind built stiffer slabs on top of the underlying weak snow, and small wind slab avalanches are possible. Though there may not be enough snow on many slopes to bury you, a ride over rocks in even a small avalanche could be quite dangerous and consequential.
The 8500' Tony Grove Snotel reports 23°F and 20 inches of total snow on the ground. It's 17°F at the 8800' UAC Card Canyon weather station, with 22 inches of total snow.
- Currently at 9700' at the CSI Logan Peak weather station, it's 18°F and the wind is blowing from the west 32 mph, with gusts to 34 mph. At 9500' on UAC Paris Peak it's 18°F, and winds are from the west 24 to 29 mph.
- Expect clear, sunny skies today, a high of 29°F at 8500', and light westerly winds. The forecast is the same for tomorrow, with slightly warmer temperatures. And the next day.
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A high-pressure system will control the weather pattern and, for at least the next week, we can expect stable atmospheric conditions with fair weather in the mountains and building haze in the valleys.
Observers this past week reported triggering a few audible collapses or "whumpfs" in generally north-facing terrain above around 8000'. These triggered collapses indicate unstable snow.
Thanksgiving Day, a snowboarder or skier triggered a small soft slab avalanche in west Miller Bowl. The avalanche was about 20 feet wide and perhaps 7 inches deep.
