This weekend we’ve seen low temperatures in the valley which means it’s colder up in the high country. Castle Country Radio was able to speak over the telephone with the Utah Avalanche Center’s Brett Kobernik about the latest conditions.
Right now, we have mostly stable conditions which is really good with no weak layers within the current snowpack. “Depth range anywhere from six to nine feet so this is incredible coverage up there right now. We have not seen any significant avalanche activity for quite some time now actually. So things are pretty stable,” said Kobernik. The riding conditions for snowboarding, skiing and snowmobiling are outstanding. It’s just great news for the Skyline area.
We have witnessed colder temperatures in the valleys in the last week or so, but temps have strangely been a bit warmer up on top. “We’ve had a temperature inversion a few days back, that’s where we see colder temperatures down in the valley bottom, the temperatures really plummet down there and stay warmer up top. Its kind of an interesting phenomenon not a whole lot, and doesn’t have much bearing on the avalanche conditions right now. We’re not going through a period of high pressure where we see a long period with no snow,” stated Kobernik. Now if we did have a long period of high pressure we would start to see weak layers forming on the snowpack which would bring avalanche danger.
“We do want to be aware that conditions can change with snow storms or any type of strong wind event that we may have. So we can see the avalanche dangers spike during those snow storms and wind events. Its generally short-lived but there’s no doubt conditions change,” said Kobernik. Conditions are mostly low danger right now but if you do plan on heading out to the backcountry its important to check the avalanche report at https://utahavalanchecenter.org/
Officials are hoping to make it through the rest of the month with stable conditions. “Its been a really, really, good situation up there. The conditions have been great and we’re dealing with stable avalanche conditions so this is the best of both worlds,” said Kobernik. Now is a good time to head to the mountains to enjoy a day of recreating.