UDOT PLANNED AVALANCHE CLOSURES!!

Forecast for the Logan Area Mountains

Toby Weed
Issued by Toby Weed for
Monday, December 3, 2018
Pockets with dangerous avalanche conditions and CONSIDERABLE danger exist on shady upper elevation slopes, in areas that had snow before Thanksgiving. The snow is much more stable and there are very nice powder conditions where there was no snow on the ground before the holiday, but avalanches involving new snow are still possible. Evaluate snow carefully, use cautious route finding, and make conservative decisions.
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High
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Learn how to read the forecast here
Special Announcements
Join us on Wednesday December 5th to celebrate the coming of winter! Our 15th Annual Pray for Snow Party and Fundraiser is at The Cache with music from Two Headed Trout, pizza from Lucky Slice, beverages from Moab Brewery, and a raffle and silent auction of amazing donated items. Thanks for your support of avalanche awareness and education. We look forward to seeing you! Tickets available online: CLICK HERE.
Weather and Snow
Areas with dangerous avalanche conditions exist on upper elevation slopes that held snow before the Thanksgiving storm. Human triggered persistent slab avalanches are likely. Much less danger and excellent powder conditions exist where is no old pre-Thanksgiving snow.
The Tony Grove Snotel at 8400' reports a couple inches of new snow with .2" SWE in the last 24 hours. It's 13º F and there's 39"of total snow, containing 117% of average SWE for the date. It's 7º F at the 9700' CSI Logan Peak weather station and a northwest wind is blowing around 14 mph.
It'll be mostly cloudy and snow is likely in the mountains again today, with 2 to 4 inches of accumulation possible. High temperatures at 8500' will be around 17º F, with 7 to 9 mph west wind. Wind chill values could be as low as low as -3º F. It'll be mostly cloudy tonight, with a low around 5º F, 5 to 8 mph west wind, and wind chill values as low as -5º F. High pressure will slowly work into the region from the west by midweek, followed by a new upper level trough arriving during the latter half of the week.
Recent Avalanches
No new avalanches were reported in the Logan Zone since a natural cycle at upper elevations on Thanksgiving weekend. Audible collapses and shooting cracks continue to be reported from across the zone.
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Avalanche Problem #1
Persistent Weak Layer
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
Dangerous human triggered avalanches running on a persistent weak layer are likely in shady upper elevation terrain. Even small avalanches can be very dangerous with shallow, early season snow cover. You could get dragged through rocks or deadfall if you get caught and carried.
  • Very weak faceted snow pre-existed the Thanksgiving storm snow on shady upper and mid-elevation slopes.
  • The weak snow was fairly shallow in the Logan Zone, so resulting slab avalanches will likely be on smooth slopes or in pockets between rocky anchors and terrain features.
  • Collapsing and cracking indicate that the snow is unstable.
Shallow but loose faceted snow lurks under the Thanksgiving slab, and fresh powder is piling up on north facing slopes at upper elevations.
Avalanche Problem #2
New Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
  • Loose sluffs, soft slab, and soft wind slab avalanches involving new snow are possible on steep slopes that have received significant accumulations in the past several days.
  • Avoid recently drifted snow in steep terrain.
Additional Information
Here is a video report from Friday 11/30/18.
General Announcements
The Tony Grove Road is open but not maintained for winter travel of wheeled vehicles. Lots of folks made it up there over the weekend on sleds, and you won't get far if you try to drive up today.
Beaver Mountain is glad to allow non-motorized uphill traffic. You can find generally safe conditions in lower angled terrain, and help pack out the ski hill. Nice powder conditions and good coverage were reported from over the weekend. Remember, before it opens, Beaver Mountain is the backcountry.
Now is a great time to practice companion rescue techniques with your backcountry partners. Here is our practice video.
Remember your information can save lives. If you see anything we should know about, please help us out by submitting snow and avalanche observations. HERE You can call us at 801-524-5304, email by clicking HERE, or include #utavy in your Instagram.
This advisory is from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.