Our area has seen storms pass through this week and it’s in the forecast that storms could continue through the weekend as well making conditions in the backcountry a bit hazardous. Castle Country Radio was able to speak over the telephone with the Utah Avalanche Center’s Brett Kobernik about the latest conditions.
“We had a pretty significant storm that started on Tuesday and it dropped averages of 18 to 24 inches of new snow, especially on the northern half of the Manti Skyline. That has caused some problems, we’ve had some natural avalanche activity that we’re aware of and at least one snowmobile-triggered avalanche was reported from Ephraim Canyon on the Skyline as well,” said Kobernik. There have been avalanche warnings out all week because of the conditions with the new snowpack so those warnings will carry over into the weekend so folks are urged to recreate with caution.
If you do choose to go up to the mountains this weekend, be aware of your surroundings and avoid those steep slope areas. “The most important thing for folks to do is check that Daily Avalanche Forecast at https://utahavalanchecenter.org/ That’s going to give you the latest, up-to-date, information. If you’re headed out on Saturday, that’s the best resource to figure out how dangerous things are still or if things have started to stabilize. We’ll have a better idea by that point on exactly how things are shaping up,” stated Kobernik. The https://utahavalanchecenter.org/ website has so much important information, videos and educational topics to help keep folks safe in the backcountry.
The weekend forecast calls for some snow but it may just be some smaller storms that pass through. “I’m thinking not a huge amount in the mountains, I’m anticipating more snow Friday afternoon, and possibly a little bit into Saturday, but not huge amounts. The thing is we’ve already got the unstable snow up there, its going to take more than the weekend to stabilize I think that’s what folks need to be aware of,” said Kobernik.
For the latest, up-to-date, avalanche reports visit the https://utahavalanchecenter.org/ website