The Logan Summit weather cam is showing snowfall again this morning, and the 8400' Tony Grove Snotel reports well over a foot of new snow containing 1.2 inches of water yesterday, bringing the last two day's accumulation up to about 18 inches. It's 25 degrees and there's 108 inches of total snow, containing 122% of average water content for the date. The 9700' CSI Logan Peak weather station reports 17 degrees and average wind speeds in the mid teens from the west southwest this morning. Beaver Mountain picked up 8 inches yesterday and overnight. Colder temperatures solidified the saturated weak snow at lower elevations, and you stay on top of a solidly refrozen crust in the fresh snow from the past couple days. Powder riding conditions up high are described as epic, but most people are avoiding steep terrain due to widespread poor snow structure and the lingering chance of triggering an un-survivable avalanche.
Bruce Tremper just published a Storm Analysis Blog that explains aspects our recent active natural avalanche cycle. HERE And he explains this weekend's generalized snow situation well in this video
It's been a week since our last reported avalanche activity in the Logan Zone. Evidence of the extensive and widespread natural cycle, which cumulated last weekend is still quite apparent across the zone, especially at lower elevations and in places that didn't get so much snow in the past couple days, and reports of large and destructive natural avalanches continue to filter in. Thanks to everyone for your observations this week, and please keep em coming.
Looking at a very large natural avalanche in Pine Canyon in the Wellsville Mountain Wilderness on 2-19-2014
***Video look at a HUGE natural avalanche in the Wellsville Range, from 2-19-2014...........HERE
Last week, in addition to numerous large natural avalanches in the backcountry, there were a few close calls with dangerous unintentionally triggered avalanches and another incredibly lucky survival story in the Providence Canyon Area, in which a rider was completely buried, rescued by his partners unconscious and unresponsive, but recovered and was able to ride out on his own....SEE REPORT
Check out "Beaver Backside is the Backcountry," an Avalanche observation video from 2-16-2014 .....HERE
A child's perspective on last week's natural wet avalanche above Zanavoo in Logan Canyon filmed on 2-17-2014 .......HERE