Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Skyline Area Mountains Issued by Brett Kobernik for Saturday - March 19, 2016 - 6:55am
bottom line

The majority of the terrain in the backcountry has a LOW overall avalanche danger. There is still a MODERATE avalanche danger along the highest and steepest north through east facing terrain where a person could trigger a new snow drift that formed this week. Consider the consequences of the terrain you are in if you trigger and get caught in a small new wind slab.
current conditions

This week started out with a windy storm on Monday which produced 4 to 6 inches of new snow into Tuesday. Since then, daytime high temperatures have been gradually increasing but it certainly hasn't gotten "hot". We've seen overnight lows in the low to mid 20s and daytime highs in the mid 30s. The wind has been persistent all week blowing from the west northwest. It finally looks like it is tapering off.

20160318-Skyline Briefing from Brett Kobernik on Vimeo. Video clips and photos: Cade Beck, Lara Kendall, Mark White
recent activity

No significant avalanche activity was observed this week along the Manti Skyline. A number of larger and dangerous avalanches have occurred in northern Utah including at least 2 catching and carrying snowmobilers. The difference is the the Skyline received quite a bit less snow from the storm early in the week.

Below are the two significant avalanches from the Logan region:

Date Region Place Trigger Depth Width Aspect Elevation Weakness
03/18/2016 Logan White Pine Canyon Snowmobiler 20" 150 Northeast 8300 New Snow/Old Snow Interface Details
03/17/2016 Logan Franklin Basin Snowmobiler 3' 80 Northeast 8100 New Snow/Old Snow Interface Details
Avalanche Problem 1
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

The prolonged wind this week will present the main avalanche concern today in lingering new drifts that may still crack out on a skier/snowboarder/snowshoer/snowmobiler. You're most likely to trigger one of these is in the highest and steepest north through east facing terrain. These drifts, if they release, may be large enough to carry a person down a slope. My guess is that most expert snowmobile riders probably won't even notice if they trigger one of these. While I suspect we won't see much avalanche activity today, just keep in mind that along the higher ridgelines is the place where you might find trouble.
weather

We're going to see mostly clear skies today with light to moderate northwest wind and ridgetop high temperatures around 40 degrees. We should see a few more clouds move in on Sunday with slightly warmer temperatures and wind shifting more southerly. It looks like next week will be fairly unsettled with a number of storms moving through starting on Tuesday.
general announcements

We will publish full detailed advisories Saturday and Sunday mornings by 7am.  We will also be publishing basic avalanche danger ratings & info during the week.

If you are getting out into the mountains, we love to hear from you!  You can SUBMIT OBSERVATIONS ONLINE or EMAIL US

If you would like to have avalanche advisories emailed to you, SIGN UP HERE

We can provide basic avalanche awareness presentations for your school, group or club.  To enquire, CLICK HERE