Forecast for the Logan Area Mountains

Toby Weed
Issued by Toby Weed for
Monday, December 31, 2012

While the snow is mostly stable and the danger is LOW (level 1) in the majority of terrain, heightened avalanche conditions still exist in places, and there's a MODERATE (or level 2) danger at upper elevations in the backcountry today. Although becoming rather unlikely, you still might trigger deep slab avalanches in areas with generally shallow and weak snow, wind slab avalanches in drifted terrain, or loose dry sluffs on very steep slopes. Use normal caution and continue to practice safe travel protocols.

Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
Extreme
Learn how to read the forecast here
Special Announcements

The friends of the Utah Avalanche Center in Logan is presenting an Advanced Skills backcountry 201 class in early January. A classroom session on the evening of January 3 and a field day on Saturday January 5. Here's a link for more information and registration; Advanced Skills, backcountry 201 or call 435-757-2794.

There will also be a snowmobile avalanche safety clinic in Logan, with a classroom session on Thursday.January 17 and a field session up at Tony Grove on Saturday January 19. Save the date, call 435-757-2794 for more information, and we'll have more registration information posted on our Website soon....

Weather and Snow

The Tony Grove Snotel at 8400' reports 10 degrees this morning, 2 inches of accumulation overnight, 54 inches of total snow, and 89% of average water content for the date. Wind information is rather limited this morning, but Beaver Mt. and UDOT hwy 89 Logan Summit are both showing wind speeds in the lower single digits... The fine powder from last week is settling out a bit and the surface is starting to re-crystallize, while frost or feathery surface hoar is also forming on the surface. Thin and weak crusts formed on due south facing slopes. A couple inches of very light powder fell yesterday evening at upper elevations in the Central Bear River Range, and you'll find good powder conditions today in many areas.

Recent Avalanches

We've noticed evidence of natural avalanche activity in some areas involving just new snow that occurred during last week's nice powder storm .

Here's a link to our avalanche list...

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Avalanche Problem #1
Persistent Weak Layer
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description

Although becoming less of a threat with time, there are still pockets with poor snow structure where you might trigger dangerous hard slab avalanches releasing on buried persistent weak layers. Outlying steep slopes facing the northern half of the compass with generally shallow and weak snow are the most suspect. An avalanche of this type will probably take a pretty big trigger., and the weight of one person on a slope may not be enough, while two or three on sleds might be.... It'll take a bit of probing or digging to determine, but be wary if you find loose sugary snow in the basal layers. Avalanches running on persistent weak layers might be triggered remotely from a distance or worse, from below. Please report any audible collapsing or whumpfing you may encounter, as this is an important sign of persistent instability.

Avalanche Problem #2
Persistent Weak Layer
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description

With all the light powder around, it won't take much wind to build sensitive new wind slabs on the lee side of major ridges and in and around terrain features like cliff bands, sub-ridges, gullies, and scoops. In some areas, stiffer old wind slabs are buried and hidden by fresher powder. These may be stubborn and could allow you to get out on them before releasing.. Triggered loose dry sluffs are still likely on very steep slopes and some of these could pick up energy in descent on longer slopes..

Additional Information

Expect partly sunny conditions in the mountains today with temperatures in the mid teens and a light north breeze. Looks like a split pattern has developed and we are entering a period of weather controlled by a strong high pressure system. This means fair weather in the mountains and developing and thickening urban haze in the Cache and other northern Utah valleys at least through the week....

Check out the Logan Mountain Weather page...

General Announcements

Remember your information from the backcountry can save lives. If you see or trigger an avalanche in the backcountry or see anything else we should know about, please send us your snow and avalanche observations. You can also call us at 801-524-5304 or email by clicking HERE. In the Logan Area you can contact Toby Weed directly at 435-757-7578.

I will update this advisory on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday mornings by around 7:30...

This advisory is produced by the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. It describes only general avalanche conditions and local variations always exist.