UDOT PLANNED AVALANCHE CLOSURES!!

Forecast for the Logan Area Mountains

Toby Weed
Issued by Toby Weed for
Saturday, April 2, 2022
With generally stable snow conditions, avalanches are unlikely and the danger is LOW in the backcountry today. Get an early start, so you can get off the snow early before it is softened by seasonal midday warmth. Avoid and stay out from underneath overhanging cornices. If you start sinking into soft saturated snow, it's time to change your route, get off and out from under slopes steeper than 30°, or head home.
Use normal caution.
Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
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Learn how to read the forecast here
Special Announcements
We'd like to thank our incredible community for your support of the 2022 Spring Campaign. We raised $75,000 in two weeks to help grow our avalanche forecasting program. Thank You!
Weather and Snow
Temperatures climbed close to freezing overnight at upper elevations, and I'm reading 28°F at 9700' near the summit of Logan Peak. Colder temperatures in the last few nights put a hold on the meltdown and formed a pretty solid and thick melt-freeze crust on top of the saturated snow. In this refrozen state, wet snow is stable and avalanches are generally unlikely. With some cloud cover today greenhousing is possible, and seasonal daytime warmth will probably soften up the surface crust. If you start sinking into wet snow or observe signs of wet snow instability, it's time to reevaluate your route so that you avoid steep terrain.

The 8400' Tony Grove Snotel is not updating this morning, but yesterday afternoon there was 57 inches of total snow at the site, containing 73% of normal SWE. South-southwest winds are blowing around 25 mph at the 9700' CSI Logan Peak weather station, where overnight temperatures were a bit below freezing and are rising this morning, and it's already 29°F.
  • Expect partly sunny skies today, with high temperatures at 8500' around 45°F and 15 to 25 mph southwest winds, with gusts around 40 mph.
  • It will be partly cloudy and a bit blustery tonight ,with low temperatures around 19°F and 17 to 23 mph winds blowing from the northwest.
  • Tomorrow will be sunny, with high temperatures around 45°F. North winds will blow 10 to 15 mph and veer from the south in the afternoon.
  • Unsettled weather is expected for the early part of next week, with snow showers, clouds, and cool mountain temperatures. Fair and mostly sunny weather is likely towards the end of the week.
Recent Avalanches
Conditions are quite a bit different this weekend than last, with much colder temperatures and much more stable snow in the backcountry. Last weekend's exceptionally warm weather caused a fairly widespread natural wet avalanche cycle in the Logan Zone, with large wet slab and wet loose avalanches observed, especially widespread in the Wellsville Range.
A large natural wet slab avalanche from last Saturday (3-26-22), likely triggered by a wet loose avalanche overrunning the slope, in Bird Canyon off Mendon Peak 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
Normal Caution
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
As daytime temperatures rise and the high angled sun and /or greenhousing warms the snow surface today, it is possible people could trigger wet avalanches on slopes steeper than 30°. Cooler mountain temperatures and barely below freezing temperatures overnight created a supportable surface crust that is stabilizing the sloppy wet snow under it. But, the high angled sun, seasonally warm daytime temperatures, and potential greenhousing will soften saturated surface snow again, and although fairly unlikely, wet loose and wet slab avalanches will be possible on steep slopes in the backcountry today.
  • Get an early start so you can reach your objective and head down before the snow becomes soft and less stable.
  • If you start sinking into saturated snow, it's time to reevaluate your route, stay off and out from under slopes steeper than 30°, and/or head home.
  • Wet slushy snow is generally unstable on steep slopes.
Avalanche Problem #2
Cornice
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
Avoid and stay out from underneath overhanging cornices, especially during the heat of the day. The cornices are sagging and buckling due to the heat, and some are naturally calving off large chunks... In some cases, the warmth has softened the previously drifted snow, and people could trigger fairly large cornice falls.
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.
  • 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.