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Forecast for the Abajos Area Mountains

Eric Trenbeath
Issued by Eric Trenbeath on
Tuesday morning, January 12, 2021
Human triggered avalanches remain likely on steep, northerly facing slopes that have enough snow to ski or ride. However, due to a lack of sufficient snow cover on the majority of the terrain, the avalanche danger is isolated to specific features and therefore MODERATE. With the current snowpack structure consisting of a slab on top of layers of weak, sugary, faceted snow, steep, NW-E facing slopes with sufficient cover should be avoided for the foreseeable future. Most south-facing and low elevation terrain has generally LOW danger.
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Special Announcements
I'm very sorry to report Utah's first avalanche fatality of the season. A 31-year-old man was killed in a backcountry area in the Wasatch Mountains know as Dutch Draw. Our sincere condolences go out to the family and friends. Here is the final report.
Weather and Snow
With the extended dry weather pattern, I won't be doing daily weather updates. Use the links below for forecast and current conditons.
Snow totals at Buckboard Flat (8924')
Snow totals at Camp Jackson (8858')
Snowpack Discussion
The current snowpack is very shallow and most of it is comprised of layers of loose, weak, sugary snow. On northerly aspects, a slab overrides this weak sugary snow and this creates an unstable situation on slopes that have enough snow to ski or ride. Conditions are deceiving due to the overall lack of coverage and the general inaccessibility of avalanche terrain, but if you went searching for an avalanche you could still find one. With the current snowpack structure, steep northerly facing terrain with sufficient coverage should be avoided for the foreseeable future.
Additional Information
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.
New to the backcountry (including riding at closed resorts) - Watch the award-winning, 15 minute Know Before You Go video, or take the 5-part, free online-learning series.
General Announcements
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.
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