We have seen some cold, windy and rainy conditions in the valleys but in the higher country, there has been snowy weather in the higher elevations.  Castle Country Radio was able to speak over the telephone with the Utah Avalanche Center’s Brett Kobernik about the latest conditions taking place out in the backcountry.

“That first week of Spring was very Spring-like, then we were right back to Winter over the weekend with pushing upwards of 20 inches of snow along the Manti Skyline. It was cold, if felt like Jan. There were some avalanches triggered up there – small pockets, small snowmobile-triggered avalanches and a few natural avalanches as well from the wind drifted snow. So we’re not through this just yet,” stated Kobernik. There were no reports of any injuries from the triggered avalanches that occurred along the Skyline.

The forecast states that there is possible rain and snow showers that will hit the Castle Country area this coming weekend. “Typically, in the springtime we do deal with fairly safe avalanche conditions. The big picture is it’s not all that dangerous out there right now. But you don’t want to just think, hey, it’s springtime, hey, it’s safe up there. You need to continue to pay attention because what happens is things change drastically from day to day,” said Kobernik. So it’s rapid transitions that are taking place up in the higher terrain during these stormy days.

“Keep paying attention when you go into the mountains. Conditions up there are fantastic so it’s a great opportunity get in some of those last days of Winter. But don’t let your guard down, continue to look for all the stuff that we talk about when we’re talking about avalanche safety,” stated Kobernik. You can get avalanche forecasts for the entire state on the Utah Avalanche Center’s website at https://utahavalanchecenter.org/ It’s a great resource to see the avalanche conditions in the entire state.