With warmer temperatures being seen in the area this can pose some dangers in the backcountry with avalanches. Castle Country Radio was able to sit down with Forecaster, Brett Kobernick to talk all things avalanche.
“You know we can see ebbs and flows in the avalanche danger pretty much anytime during the season. Its somewhat unusual that we’ve been dealing with this pretty dangerous situation that we have right now this late into the Spring. Typically, by the time we reach mid-March we are dealing with a more stable situation,” said Kobernick. Conditions are a bit dicey at this point because of the long, warmer and dry temperatures we had in January/February, followed by a few snowstorms we received, puts a layer of snow that is very unstable at this point.
“I’m still telling people to use caution through this weekend as they go up into the mountains. The most dangerous slopes are the highest elevation, more northerly facing slopes. We still have a considerable avalanche danger there and an elevated avalanche danger rating. The good news is that warm temperatures help stabilize this type of weak layer. So I’m hoping that I’m going to be seeing some more stable conditions as I go out the next couple of days and go up and check conditions,” said Kobernick. It’s important that when heading to the backcountry that individuals know about the conditions that they could face while outdoors.
As for as the conditions up on the Manti LaSal/Skyline area conditions are still dangerous. “We still have some dangerous conditions it’s kind of in the middle of the danger ratings right now. But the trend is that things are getting more stable and more safe. I wouldn’t say that we’re green light conditions, certainly not. The danger rating I have today is orange, that’s the considerable danger rating,” explained Kobernick. Once conditions drop into a yellow or moderate danger or even a low green will mean that conditions are safer.
To learn more about the avalanche conditions visit the Utah Avalanche Center’s website at https://utahavalanchecenter.org/