***Join us for a Backcountry 101 for snowmobilers this evening and tomorrow. 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.

Snow surface conditions are quite variable across the zone. You can still find nice, recrystallized snow on northerly-facing and shaded slopes (best if low angle), and there are widespread crusts of varying thickness in sunny terrain. At low and mid-elevations, the snow cover is exceptionally thin, creating hazardous travel conditions due to rocks, downed trees, and barely covered branches. In most places, if you step off the trail, you sink through loose sugary snow to the ground. Lower elevation slopes facing southeast, south, southwest, and west are mostly bare of snow. Higher, the faceted snow has become so loose on steep, northerly-facing slopes that people can easily trigger sluffs or small loose avalanches. These are generally not an issue unless people are swept into trees or other terrain traps. Recent winds redeposited snow on top of weak faceted snow, creating isolated pockets of unstable snow in exposed upper-elevation terrain, primarily on slopes facing the eastern half of the compass (northwest through southeast). Today, people could still trigger small slab avalanches of wind-drifted snow.

This morning, at the UAC Card Canyon weather station at 8,700 feet, the temperature is 29°F, and there is 41 inches of total snow. The Tony Grove Snotel at 8400 feet reports 28°F and 54 inches of total snow. On Logan Peak at 9700 feet, winds are currently blowing from the south-southwest at 30 mph and gusting to 37 mph. It's 21°F on Paris Peak at 9500 feet, and the wind is blowing from the south-southwest 15 to 22 mph. There's a good chance of snow in the mountains today and tonight, with 2 to 6 inches of accumulation possible at upper elevations in the Central Bear River Range. Expected high temperatures at 8500 feet will be around 28°F, and moderate winds will blow from the west-southwest. Clearing is expected late tonight, with temperatures dropping to around 13°F, and a moderate wind blowing from the west-northwest will be enough to drift the fresh snow. Tomorrow will be mostly sunny, with a high near 27°F. Beyond that, dry conditions are expected to continue through at least the middle of next week.