This week we saw some cold windy temperatures in the valleys and a few small snow storms up in the high country. This presented some wind drift problems up on the Skyline so Castle Country Radio took time to sit down with Utah Avalanche Center’s Brett Kobernik to get all the details.

“We picked up about nine inches of snow up in the high-country Sunday night into Monday. There has been a little bit of wind involved with that storm, and then again yesterday. So that’s stirred things up a little bit, it drifted that new snow, and it created a few soft slabs and drifts of snow built tornasis and these things were a little sensitive yesterday too, folks who were up in the backcountry,” explained Kobernik.  There were a few snowmobilers that found some shallow wind slabs that were tracking out on them. However, they weren’t all that deep or large enough to pose a problem.

The snow slabs can be tricky so folks need to be cautious around them. “The thing is about these wind slabs is they’re most sensitive right when they’re forming. So yesterday was probably the most sensitive period, and now from here on, since the winds have calmed down, they’ll stabilize and become more stubborn over the next couple of days. But they’re probably going to be a little sensitive still on Friday, and so folks watch out for that,” said Kobernik. The cold temperatures don’t help the wind slabs become more stable it actually slows the process of stability.  However, during the weekend we will see some warmer temperatures that will stabilize the wind slabs and the fresh drifts.

If you plan to head out to enjoy a day of snowmobiling, snowboarding or skiing please be careful and check the avalanche reports at https://utahavalanchecenter.org/  “In general we’re going to be dealing with fairly stable and safe conditions up there through this weekend. If folks are really pushing the limits and getting into very, very, steep terrain in the upper elevations, where some of these wind drifts have formed, there still could be some of those lingering into this weekend. But in general, most folks are going to be able to recreate up there, and have a safe, safe weekend with no threat to avalanche danger,” stated Kobernik. When visiting avalanche terrain, it’s also important to have the proper avalanche gear, which includes an avalanche beacon, a probe and a shovel.