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Forecast for the Logan Area Mountains

Toby Weed
Issued by Toby Weed for
Friday, March 18, 2022
Heightened avalanche conditions exist in the backcountry, people could trigger dangerous avalanches, and the overall danger is MODERATE. While stability has improved on most slopes, dangerous conditions persist in some areas with poor snow structure and unstable snow, which can be found in northerly facing terrain at all elevations. On slopes steeper than 30°, people could trigger dangerous slab avalanches, up to two feet deep and a couple hundred feet wide, failing on a buried persistent weak layer of faceted snow. In isolated areas, avalanches still might be triggered remotely or from a distance.
*Evaluate snow and terrain carefully, especially on north facing slopes in areas with poor snow structure.
Low
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Considerable
High
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Learn how to read the forecast here
Special Announcements
Thanks to the generous support of our local resorts and Ski Utah, discount lift tickets are now available. Support the UAC while you ski at the resorts this season. Tickets are available HERE.
Weather and Snow
Heightened avalanche conditions exist in the backcountry, and we're still finding buried layers of weak faceted snow on slopes at all elevations across the zone. Even so, snow stability appears to be pretty good in most places. Unfortunately at the same time, pockets of unstable snow and dangerous avalanche conditions exist in some areas, mainly on northerly facing mid elevation slopes. Last week, heavy snow overloaded slopes with buried persistent weak layers consisting of sugary faceted snow, and additional accumulation and drifting this week added weight and depth to a developing slab layer. Although not widespread, dangerous avalanche conditions exist on slopes with this poor snow structure, and on some steep slopes people could trigger dangerous avalanches today.
The 8400' Tony Grove Snotel reports 23°F, and here is 74 inches of total snow at the site, containing 84% of normal SWE for the date. The 9700' CSI Logan Peak weather station is not updating, but the wind is blowing 10 to 15 mph out of the southwest on James Peak this morning.
  • Expect mostly sunny skies, with high temperatures at 8500' around 37°F, and 10 to 15 mph west winds.
  • Expect partly cloudy skies tonight, with low temperatures around 21°F, and 10 mph southwest winds.
  • Partly sunny skies are expected tomorrow, with high temperatures around 44°F, and increasing, 11 to 18 mph southwest winds, with gusts in the 30s.
  • Our next chance for snow comes on Saturday night and Sunday, with 4 to 8 inches of accumulation possible on upper elevation slopes by Sunday evening. Expect increasing south-southwest winds on Saturday night, veering from the northwest and remaining fairly strong on Sunday.
  • Looks like fair and warming weather for at least the first part of next week.
Recent Avalanches
  • Tuesday in Providence Canyon, two people hiking on snowshoes (with snowboards on their backs) observed a couple whumpfs while ascending on a previously created uptrack in the Dog Leg Trees. They turned tail and headed home when they came to the pile of fresh avalanche debris crossing the uptrack, and they realized they'd remotely triggered a good sized soft slab avalanche. The 1' deep x 200' wide avalanche on a north facing slope at around 8700' failed on very weak faceted snow, and it was remotely triggered from a quite a distance below.
  • Saturday, skiers triggered a couple sizable soft slab avalanches on the Millville Face in Providence Canyon. The avalanches at around 8600' in elevation on a north facing slope failed on a sugary persistent weak layer. The largest was 12 to 20" deep and around 300' wide.
  • Last Friday afternoon, a skier deployed an airbag when caught and carried around 200' by an avalanche on a southeast facing slope at around 8000' in Rattlesnake Canyon in the Wellsville Mountain Wilderness
Check out all the recent backcountry observations and many recent avalanche reports from across Utah HERE
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Avalanche Problem #1
Persistent Weak Layer
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
Last week's heavy snow created a cohesive and harder slab on widespread preexisting layers of very weak faceted snow. In some areas, the overload of heavy new snow was just enough to activate these layers and cause dangerous slab avalanches. More snow fell and drifting occurred earlier this week, which continued to load slopes with poor snow structure. On slopes facing the north half of the compass in some areas, people could trigger soft slab avalanches failing on a buried persistent weak layer. Although becoming less frequent, observers in the Logan Zone this week reported signs of instability in some areas, including audible collapsing and cracking.
  • Avalanches could be triggered remotely or from a distance.
Very weak faceted snow is buried and preserved in many areas. Poor snow structure exists where a slab of harder snow sits above these buried layers of loose faceted snow, and in some areas, stability tests show unstable conditions.
Additional Information
  • Now is a great time to practice your avalanche rescue skills. Thanks to the generous support of Northstar, the Franklin Basin Beacon Training Park is up and running. The park is located directly west of the parking lot and is open for anyone to use. All you need is your beacon and probe. Please do not dig up the transmitters.
  • Always follow safe backcountry travel protocols. Go one person at a time in avalanche terrain, while the rest of your party watches from a safe area. (practice anytime while traveling on or under backcountry slopes steeper than 30°)
  • Check your avalanche rescue equipment, change your batteries, and practice often with your backcountry partners.
    Check slope angles, and to avoid avalanche terrain stay off of and out from under slopes steeper than 30° and adjacent slopes. Video Here
General Announcements
Special thank you to Polaris and Northstar...Video Here
Who's up for some free avalanche training? Get a refresher, become better prepared for an upcoming avalanche class, or just boost your skills. Go to https://learn.kbyg.org/ and scroll down to Step 2 for a series of interactive online avalanche courses produced by the UAC.
  • Check out all the upcoming education classes and clinics HERE.
  • Please submit your observations from the backcountry HERE.
This information does not apply to developed ski areas or highways where avalanche control is normally done. 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.
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