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Forecast for the Logan Area Mountains

Paige Pagnucco
Issued by Paige Pagnucco on
Monday morning, February 5, 2024
The avalanche danger will rise to CONSIDERABLE today in upper elevation terrain as strong winds blowing from the south-southwest create slabs of wind-drifted snow. Natural avalanches are possible and human-triggered avalanches are likely on steep slopes, mainly on the north half of the compass. You may also encounter loose snow avalanches in steep, sheltered areas.
Although increasingly unlikely, dangerous hard slab avalanches failing on a buried sugary, persistent weak layer are possible in isolated terrain with shallow snow cover.

Careful snowpack evaluation, cautious route-finding, and conservative decision-making are essential for safe travel today. Avoid steep, drifted slopes.
Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
Extreme
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Weather and Snow
A new storm has moved into the area, and it's currently snowing hard in the mountains and raining in the valley. Though somewhat improved by last week's shallow snowfall, riding conditions should benefit greatly from the coming week's forecast storms. It looks like winter is making a congenial return with strong winds, moderate snowfall, and storminess through the work week. The best riding conditions today are on sheltered low-angle slopes where the new snow is stacking up, and there's less chance to hit last week's crusty surface. Conditions should continue to improve throughout the week.
On upper and mid-elevation slopes steeper than 30°, people could trigger wind slab avalanches of drifted new snow or loose snow avalanches. These both might run faster and further than expected on a stout melt-freeze crust from last week's warm spell.

The wind is blowing from the south this morning at 41 mph with gusts up to 62 mph at the 9700' CSI Logan Peak weather station, and it's 24° F. On Paris Peak at 9500', it’s 21° F, and the wind is blowing 4 mph from the south. The Tony Grove Snotel at 8400' reports 27° F and 1-2 inches of new snow in the last 24 hours. The station reports 76 inches of total snow, containing 116% of the average SWE (Snow Water Equivalent).

Expect stormy conditions today with strong winds from the south and 5-9 inches of snowfall. High temperatures at 8500' are expected to be around 33° F. Snow will continue through the night into Tuesday when we'll have a brief lull before the next system moves into the area Tuesday night through Thursday.
Recent Avalanches
On Friday, we received reports of a few shallow avalanches of heavy new snow in the northern part of the zone. A snowboarder triggered a 2" x 40' soft slab that ran into trees and piled up a couple of feet deep, and skiers in Bloomington Canyon triggered a few sluffs running further than expected on the widespread melt-freeze crust. No avalanches were reported yesterday.
Check out local observations and avalanches HERE.
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Avalanche Problem #1
Wind Drifted Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
Drifting of the new snow by southerly winds will create wind slabs on the lee side of major ridges and in and around terrain features like sub ridges, gully walls, mid-slope roll-overs, and under cliff bands. In some areas, these may fail naturally and/or will likely be easy for people to trigger, and even small avalanches of stiffer, wind-drifted snow could run fast and far on the slick crust formed during last week's warm temperatures.
  • Avoid recent drifts or wind slabs on steep slopes. Wind slabs are made up of stiffer, redeposited snow that may be more supportable than the surrounding powder. Lense-shaped drifts often make hollow, drum-like sounds.
  • Cracking is an obvious sign of wind slab instability.
  • Shallow loose and soft slab avalanches of heavy new snow are also possible on steep slopes across the zone.
  • An outlier at this point - hard slab avalanches failing on a buried persistent weak layer could be large and life-threatening. The weak, faceted snow that plagued the range in January is basically in the rear-view mirror but remains on the edges of our radar as we continue to find increasingly stubborn instability in our snow pit tests in areas with a shallower snowpack. Of note, red flags may not be present when avalanches failing on a persistent weak layer occur.
Additional Information
General Announcements
-Read Toby's recent blog about wind, drifting, and avalanches HERE
-Sign up for forecast region-specific text message alerts. You will receive messages about changing avalanche conditions, watches, and warnings...HERE.
-For all questions on forecasts, education, Know Before You Go, events, online purchases, or fundraising, call 801-365-5522.
-To report an avalanche or submit an observation from the backcountry, go HERE.
-We will update this forecast by 7:30 AM tomorrow.
This forecast is from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This forecast describes general avalanche conditions, and local variations always occur.