Forecast for the Logan Area Mountains
Issued by Toby Weed on
Wednesday morning, February 12, 2020
Wednesday morning, February 12, 2020
The snow is stable on most slopes and the avalanche danger is LOW in the backcountry today. Low danger does not mean No danger, and on isolated very steep slopes at upper elevations people still might trigger avalanches failing on a sugary persistent weak layer. Some shallow drifts may have developed overnight in exposed upper elevation terrain, and a person might be able to trigger small avalanches of recently wind drifted snow.
- Use normal caution, check everyone's avalanche rescue gear, and continue to practice safe travel protocols.
Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
Extreme
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Weather and Snow
It's 20°F at the 8400' Tony Grove Snotel, there is an inch or two of new snow, and 86 inches of total snow, containing 136% of normal Snow Water Equivalent. Northwest winds are currently blowing around 25 mph, with gusts near 50 mph at the CSI Logan Peak weather station, and it's 12°F at 9700'.
Much cooler temperatures have solidly set up the wet snow at lower elevations, and the snow is now hard and stable. A widespread thick rain-crust, translucent and brittle in places, exists in the southern part of the zone and the Logan Peak Area, even at high elevations. Further to the north we are finding better riding conditions. There is a smooth rime-crust on exposed slopes and the surface snow is a mix of graupel and heavily rimed snow.
We found a deep and stable snowpack in Hells Kitchen, but there is some weak graupel and rimed snow near the surface
There is a chance of snow showers this morning, with high temperatures at 8500' around 25°F. Diminishing west winds will blow 13 to 18 mph, creating wind chill values as low as -13°F. It'll be mostly cloudy tonight, with low temperatures around 9°F and 11 mph west-southwest wind. Expect mostly sunny conditions tomorrow, with a high temperature around 28°F, and west-southwest wind around 11 mph. Another weak system will cross the zone Friday night before the jet stream amplifies and a stronger system arrives late Sunday.
Recent Avalanches
Natural activity was fairly widespread in the Logan Zone during last week's windy and warm storm. We could see blown-in evidence of some pretty large avalanches in the Hells Kitchen Area, including a large one in Steam Mill 3, est. 2' deep, 250' wide, running ~600vrt'
Clearing Saturday morning allowed us to get views of fairly widespread natural avalanche activity in the Wellsville Mountain Wilderness, including this nice fresh avalanche of wind drifted snow in Old Logway Canyon. The avalanche appears to be two to three feet deep and 300' to 400' wide, running well over 2000 vrt', but stopping just short of the flats on Maple Bench.
Natural wet avalanches hit highway 89 in the Dugway Area of Logan Canyon and forced it's closure around 3:00 Friday afternoon. The highway was closed for a couple hours so crews could clear the debris.
Avalanche Problem #1
Normal Caution
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
The snow is stable on most slopes, the danger is LOW, and avalanches are generally unlikely. Low danger does not mean No danger, and avalanches remain possible on some isolated upper elevation slopes facing the east half of the compass. People might trigger avalanches of previously wind drifted snow failing on a sugary persistent weak layer from last week. A bump in northwest winds overnight may have built a few shallow new drifts on upper elevation slopes, but due to last week's rime event there's not much in the way of transportable snow to move around.
- Watch for and avoid old drifts near ridge lines and in and around terrain features like cliff bands, scoops, gully walls, and sub-ridges.
- Avoid ridge top cornices, which can break much further back than expected and start avalanches on slopes below.
General Announcements
Are you looking to improve your avalanche skills? We are offering a Backcountry 101: Introduction to Avalanches class at Powder Mountain February 14-15. Info and sign up HERE
Thanks to the generous support of our Utah ski resorts and Ski Utah, we have discount lift tickets available. All proceeds from these go towards paying for avalanche forecasting and education! Get your tickets HERE.
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This forecast is from the USDA Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. The forecast describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.
I will update this forecast before about 7:30 Thursday morning.