The snow has taken quite a beating from the very strong east winds over the past few days. You'll find mostly stable snow minus a few areas where the unusual winds have created hard slabs of wind-drifted snow, mainly in very steep, exposed terrain. We saw no evidence of instability yesterday but the wind show in Logan Dry Canyon yesterday morning was impressive, and there's no denying that it's possible today to trigger an avalanche in an unusual place. The snow surface is variable but supportable and you'll find excellent coverage across the zone. There is still some soft settled snow in north-facing shaded terrain.
It's 26°F at the 8400' Tony Grove Snotel and there is 108" of total snow containing 127% of normal snow water equivalent (SWE). On Logan Peak, winds blowing from the east are still cranking in the 40's mph and gusting into the 50's and 60's mph. At the new Paris Peak weather station, it's 20°F, and the easterly winds are much calmer, blowing and gusting in the teens mph. The new Card Canyon weather station shows 91" of snow and it's 22°F.
I can hear the wind outside my window howling again this morning, a prelude to yet another day of unusually strong winds. It'll be sunny and "breezy" in the mountains today with temperatures in the 30's F and winds blowing from the east 20-30 mph with gusts in the 40's mph. The Logan Peak area (front side of the range) is bearing the brunt of this unusual pattern with sustained winds in the 40's mph and gusts into the 60's. In contrast, Logan Summit (back side of the range), our normally very windy zone, has been relatively calm. If you avoid hanging out in exposed terrain, you'll find the wind to be less bothersome. Sunshine and spring-like temperatures dominate the forecast for the next few days but so do the easterly winds, which look to wind down by Monday. The next chance for precipitation is Wednesday or Thursday of the coming week.
