Under west-south-west flow this morning we will see increasing clouds, ushered in from the west, along with a few inches inches of new snow possible before clearing out this afternoon. Fortunately, there is a progressive pattern setting up as a series of storms across northern Utah over the next week. The first in the series is a fast moving shortwave that will be here late this evening and could bring 2-4" of new snow before clearing out by Saturday morning. A short brief period of high pressure over the weekend before a more organized and better looking storm slated for Christmas day.

Westerly winds have increased and are currently blowing 15-20 mph gusting into the low 30's across the upper elevations. Mid elevation anemometers are spinning 10-15 mph gusting into the low 30's mph. Current temperatures are in the 40's °F at 6,000' feet in elevation. Temperatures at 8500' are sitting just above freezing 32°F.

The snow surface over the past week has taken a beating from the wind and sun. However, Wednesday's angry 1-2" inches of graupel along with the wind helped to smooth the snow surface and save the day. It's not over the head and over the hood, but, there remains soft, spongy turns and many backcountry travelers reported good riding and turning conditions in the backcountry. Southerly facing terrain will be crusted.