The avalanche danger is mostly LOW this morning, with pockets of MODERATE danger for triggering a shallow wind drift in steep, exposed terrain and for sluffs in very steep terrain. On steep, sun exposed slopes, the avalanche danger will rise to MODERATE with daytime heating.

High pressure has brought clear skies and warming temperatures to the mountains. Mid elevation and ridgeline temperatures have crept from the single digits up into the teens. The westerly winds are light, with all stations averaging less than 15 mph. I have to be honest – compared to the weeks of epic powder, it’s definitely dust on crust conditions, with 1 to 5” of snow on a variety of hard, frozen crusts, ruts and avalanche debris. However, if you can find a place with a smooth old snow surface, especially on upper elevation northerly facing slopes, you may be pleasantly surprised. Also, as the sunny slopes soften later today, the spring like conditions could be good, too. There is a “slide for life” potential hidden beneath the thin veneer of new snow, so use caution if you travel on any steep slopes because of the very hard, icy conditions. (The Logan area mountains topped out at 10”, and have very good turning and riding conditions.)

Yesterday’s avalanche activity consisted of spotty, easily triggered shallow soft wind drifts, mainly in upper elevation terrain. They were generally less than 6” deep, and both along and off the ridge lines. Sluffs were easy to trigger, potentially a problem in continuously very steep terrain. Both are running on the old hard surfaces, and can go further than expected.

High pressure will bring a strong warming trend to the area today, with 8,000’ temperatures leaping to near 40, and 10,000’ temperatures approaching 30. The westerly winds will be light all the way to the ridge tops, generally in the 5 to 15 mph range. As the high shifts east on Sunday, a mild southwesterly flow will set up across northern Utah, lasting through midweek, bringing warm temperatures and partly cloudy skies. The mid range forecast models advertize colder, wetter weather near the end of next week.

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Yesterday, Wasatch Powderbird Guides skied in Cascade, Cardiff, and Days, with a home run down the Emmas’. Today they will be in Mineral, Cardiff, Days, Silver, Grizzly and White Pine, with a second ship in Cascade. Their operations planning page is here.

Beacon training parks are up and running! There is one at Snowbasin, one on the Park City side at the top of Canyon’s gondola toward the Tombstone lift, one in Little Cottonwood near the Snowbird parking structure on the bypass road, and in Big Cottonwood a training park is at the west end of Solitude's lower parking lot.

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UDOT highway avalanche control work info can be found by calling (801) 975-4838. Our statewide toll free line is 1-888-999-4019 (early morning, option 8).

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Your snow and avalanche observations can save someone’s life. Please let us know what you're seeing by leaving a message at (801) 524-5304 or 1-800-662-4140, or email us at uac@utahavalanchecenter.org. (Fax 801-524-6301).

The information in this advisory is from the U.S. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.

Brett Kobernik will update this advisory by 7:30 tomorrow morning.