Looking to up your avalanche knowledge? Want to feel more confident about making decisions in the backcountry with your group? Join us for a Backcountry 101 for snowmobilers on January 28 and 29. This life-saving course is designed for snowmobilers and snow bikers taking their first on-snow avalanche class or looking to refresh previous training. For more information and to sign up, click here.

Riding conditions are best in wind-protected terrain. Sunny slopes will remain crusty until some soften with today’s warmth, while sheltered, northerly slopes hold dry recrystallized snow or "loud powder" in large surface hoar crystals. We are tracking the surface snow as it transforms into surface hoar, near-surface facets, and recrystallized snow, which will become future weak layers. Sunday, we found very nice soft snow in sheltered upper-elevation terrain near Logan Peak, but the lack of snow at lower elevations made for a long, rocky walk out. Paige discusses weak surface snow conditions in this video from Logan Dry Canyon.

This morning, the Tony Grove Snotel at 8400 feet reports 21°F and 56 inches of total snow. At the UAC Card Canyon weather station at 8700 feet, it's 19°F, and there is 42 inches of total snow. Currently at 9700 feet on Logan Peak, the wind is blowing 26 mph from the west. It's 15°F on Paris Peak at 9500 feet, and the wind is increasing this morning blowing 33 to 39 mph from the west-southwest. It will be another nice day in the mountains, with sunny skies and temperatures at 8500 feet reaching 30°F. Expect a breeze blowing from the west, 8 to 14 mph with higher wind speeds along the highest ridges. Although there is little snow available for the wind to drift, redeposition onto steep slopes with weak surface snow could form unstable shallow wind slabs.

The strong high pressure will remain over the region through the work week, with a continued temperature inversion producing hazy and cold conditions in the valleys and fair, mild but gradually cooling conditions in the mountains. There's a chance for a modest amount of snow in the mountains of southern Utah this weekend, and a slight chance in the Logan Zone on Sunday night, with a cutoff low pressure system likely forming off the coast of California and sliding by to the south of Utah.