This morning, skies are overcast with light to moderate snowfall. Mountain temperatures are currently in the upper teens F to low-twenties F. Over the last 12 hours, the westerly winds have averaged 20-30 mph at mid-elevations, with some gusts near 60 mph at the uppermost elevation. No measurable accumulation as of 6 AM. Today, skies will remain mostly cloudy with the occasional light snowfall. Very little additional accumulation is expected 1 to 2 inches. Temperatures will climb into the mid-twenties F. Winds will remain westerly averaging 10-20 mph at mid-elevations, and 20-30 mph at upper elevations with gusts up to 50 mph at the highest ridgelines. Looking ahead, an even weaker storm system is expected to graze northern Utah on Saturday. The weather models hint at a pattern change by the end of the month. Yesterday, Mark and I got out in the Wolf Creek Pass Zone. You can find the full observations HERE. Backcountry travel remains generally easy and riding conditions are pretty good for mid-November. Some wind and sun damage exists in the alpine and on the solar aspects, respectively, but sheltered parts hold soft recrystallized snow.    While it may seem like nothing is happening, a lot is happening within the snowpack. The cold and clear skies have not only promoted weakening in all layers of the snowpack through a process known as faceting, but these atmospheric conditions have been conducive for surface hoar, the wintertime equivalent of dew, deposition on many slopes. I use the word deposition with care: whereas faceting and weakening take place within the snowpack, surface hoar is deposited onto the snow surface. It all makes for soft, turnable snow now, once we get a large load of snow on top of it, the weak faceted snow and surface hoar often become a weak layer down the road.   A few key takeaways for the Western Uintas:  Almost all slopes are snow covered. The exception is steep, direct south-facing slopes which only have a few inches of snow. All other slopes have varying depths, but well covered. Almost all slopes (except steep, direct south-facing) have lots of facets from top to bottom of the snowpack. The absolute weakest snow is on the surface on north facing. This is worth noting, as this snow will soon become the base of our entire snowpack. When it snows, there will be avalanches on nearly all slopes. Folks have been getting out, and looking at terrain find their insightful observations and trip reports are found HERE.

This morning, skies are overcast with light snowfall. Mountain temperatures are currently in the upper teens and mid-twenties F. Over the last 12 hours, the west-northwesterly winds have averaged 10-20 mph at mid-elevations, with some gusts near 50 mph at the uppermost elevation. No measurable accumulation as of 6 AM.   Today, skies will remain mostly cloudy with the occasional light snowfall. Very little additional accumulation is expected 1 to 3 inches. Temperatures will climb into the low thirties F. Winds will remain west-northwesterly averaging 10-20 mph at mid-elevations, and 20-30 mph at upper elevations with gusts up to 50 mph at the highest ridgelines.   Looking ahead, an even weaker storm system is expected to graze northern Utah on Saturday. The weather models hint at a pattern change by the end of the month.  In the meantime, backcountry travel remains generally easy and riding conditions are pretty good for mid-November. Some wind and sun damage exists in the alpine and on the solar aspects, respectively, but sheltered parts hold soft recrystallized snow. Ogden snow depths are 2-3'   While it may seem like nothing is happening, a lot is happening within the snowpack. We are seeing a wide variety of snow surfaces, and layering within the snowpack. The cold and clear skies have not only promoted weakening in the upper layers of the snowpack through a process known as faceting, but these atmospheric conditions have been conducive for surface hoar, the wintertime equivalent of dew, deposition on many slopes. I use the word deposition with care: whereas faceting and weakening take place within the snowpack, surface hoar is deposited onto the snow surface. It all makes for soft, turnable snow now, once we get a large load of snow on top of it, the weak faceted snow and surface hoar often become a weak layer down the road.    Right now is an excellent opportunity to take note and begin mapping the variability and surfaces that are currently covering the range, as this will soon enough become the base of our snowpack for the season.   Photos of surface hoar (Gagne) and near-surface facets (Torrey) are below.   From Ogden to the central Wasatch to the Provo mountains, we have received several excellent observations.  You can find them HERE.  Please keep these excellent reports coming. 

An inch of new snow is welcome, but it won't change things much.  Cold and rather dry weather will persist through a breezy Thanksgiving weekend, but it looks like a storm and a bit of snow is likely on Monday.  We are about due for a change in the weather...  For more details and current conditions, visit the UAC Logan Weather Page HERE     Feathers of surface hoar are widespread on the snow surface across the zone.  Paige found these in Logan Canyon on Monday.       The extreme temperature differences in the shallow snow caused by cold air is causing the snow grains to become weak and faceted (or sugar-like).        Shallow early season snow conditions exist across the Logan Zone, with only about a foot-and-a-half to three feet of total snow covering the rocks on upper elevation slopes. Although the sugary snow keeps you off the ground for the most part, there are numerous shallowly buried land mines out there.  The snow is especially loose and sugary around rocks. Local snowmobile mechanics report a good number of A-arm replacements recently. Keep your speed down!  Caution is required to avoid hitting shallowly buried rocks, stumps, or down trees.     

This morning, skies are overcast with light snowfall. Mountain temperatures are currently in the upper mid-twenties F. Over the last 12 hours, the west-northwesterly winds have averaged 10-20 mph at mid-elevations, with some gusts near 50 mph at the uppermost elevation. No measurable accumulation as of 6 AM.   Today, skies will remain mostly cloudy with the occasional light snowfall. Very little additional accumulation is expected trace amount to 2 inches. Temperatures will climb into the low thirties F. Winds will remain west-northwesterly averaging 10-20 mph at mid-elevations, and 20-30 mph at upper elevations with gusts up to 45 mph at the highest ridgelines.   Looking ahead, an even weaker storm system is expected to graze northern Utah on Saturday. The weather models hint at a pattern change by the end of the month.  In the meantime, backcountry travel remains generally easy and riding conditions are pretty good for mid-November. Some wind and sun damage exists in the alpine and on the solar aspects, respectively, but sheltered parts hold soft recrystallized snow. Snow depths in Provo trails behind the Cottonwoods, and Ogden with only 1-2' snow on the ground.     While it may seem like nothing is happening, a lot is happening within the snowpack. We are seeing a wide variety of snow surfaces, and layering within the snowpack. The cold and clear skies have not only promoted weakening in the upper layers of the snowpack through a process known as faceting, but these atmospheric conditions have been conducive for surface hoar, the wintertime equivalent of dew, deposition on many slopes. I use the word deposition with care: whereas faceting and weakening take place within the snowpack, surface hoar is deposited onto the snow surface. It all makes for soft, turnable snow now, once we get a large load of snow on top of it, the weak faceted snow and surface hoar often become a weak layer down the road.    Right now is an excellent opportunity to take note and begin mapping the variability and surfaces that are currently covering the range, as this will soon enough become the base of our snowpack for the season.   Photos of surface hoar (Gagne) and near-surface facets (Torrey) are below.   From Ogden to the central Wasatch to the Provo mountains, we have received several excellent observations.  You can find them HERE.  Please keep these excellent reports coming. 

I spent Thursday on skis wandering around looking at snow in the Fairview Canyon/Huntington Reservoir area.  I would say the average depths are 2 feet.  I was finding many areas with 3 feet total snow.  This was more than I expected to find.  The snowpack is dense and quite supportable already meaning my skis weren't sinking right through to the ground.  Overall the snowpack is stable.  There was over a foot of new snow from the recent storm.  The wind has blown it around a bit so you'll definitely find some areas with deep drifts if you're up in the highest terrain.    As for weather, a storm that was shaping up for Tuesday has now all but disappeared from the recent model runs.  The next chance for a decent shot of snow looks like around Friday of next week.  Now that we have snow on the ground we really need it to keep snowing.  If it doesn't, the snow that is on the ground will deteriorate and turn to facets (loose sugary snow) that can act as a weak layer once it gets buried by more snow.         View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by Brett Kobernik (@skyline_avalanche)

Cold and dry conditions exist throughout the extended period.    The snow surface consists of a mixed bag of sun crusts, wind crusts, old stubborn wind slabs, and cold loose snow. The snowpack on northerly-facing slopes is cold, weak, and shallow. A strong temperature gradient exists in our shallow snowpack. On these aspects, facets have developed in every layer of the pack. The extended forecast shows cold clear conditions and this will continue the faceting process. What does this mean? For now conditions are mostly stable, but we are developing future weak layers. In the meantime, your greatest danger comes from traveling in low snow conditions. Average depth is around 18" at 10,000' and rocks, stumps, and other obstacles are barely covered up. It may still be possible to trigger a small slab of wind-drifted snow or a loose, dry sluff in isolated areas or in more extreme terrain. A ride in even a small avalanche in these low snow conditions would be rugged.   This snow profile from Friday 11/18 details a cold, weak snowpack on a northerly aspect.    If you are getting up into the mountains please submit an observation and let us know what you are seeing!    Get the most recent observations here.   Get current and past 24-hour readings from these real-time weather links:   Snow and Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) at the Gold Basin SNOTEL site (10,000') Snow and Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) near the Geyser Pass Winter Trailhead (9600') Wind Speed and Direction on Pre-Laurel Peak (11,400') NWS point forecast for the La Sal Mountains.        It's still low tide and rocks and logs are a real hazard.