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Forecast for the Logan Area Mountains

Toby Weed
Issued by Toby Weed for
Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Heightened avalanche conditions exist and there is a MODERATE (level 2) danger at upper and mid elevations in the backcountry. Pockets with dangerous conditions and a CONSIDERABLE (level 3) danger can be found in drifted upper elevation terrain, and you could trigger unmanageable wind slab avalanches on steep slopes with significant deposits of heavy wind drifted snow. Solar warming will also create dangerous avalanche conditions in some sunny areas, with moist soft slabs and entraining loose snow avalanches involving storm snow likely on steep slopes with a foot or more of fresh accumulation Careful snowpack evaluation, cautious route-finding, and conservative decision-making will be essential in the backcountry today.

Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
Extreme
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iPhone & iPad users: With help from Backcountry.com & Garafa, LLC, we now have a free mobile app that combines the best of the UAC advisories, observations, and weather summaries with National Weather Service products & UDOT road updates. This puts the tools you need for planning your day and your run in one handy mobile package. Check it out, tell your friends, and let us know what you think.http://utahavalanchecenter.org/apps

Weather and Snow

The Tony Grove Snotel reported around a foot of heavy new snow yesterday morning and a couple more inches overnight. The station recorded 3.2 inches of snow-water equivalent since last Friday morning, representing the fresh snow now capping the saturated melt-freeze snow from last week's prolonged warm spell. It's a cool 20 degrees at 8400' this morning, there is 65 inches of total snow containing 63% of average water for the date. The CSI Logan Peak weather station reports north-northwest winds averaging in the mid teens this morning, diminished after recording exceptionally strong northeast winds yesterday morning , including several hours with 55 mph average wind speeds and gusts near 80 mph. It's currently 15 degrees at the 9700' mountain top weather station. The UDOT Hwy 89 Logan Summit weather station reported a whopping 25 inches of new snow yesterday morning, a figure I couldn't believe until I confirmed it myself. I found way too deep snow and difficult trail breaking in the backcountry...

Video Observation, 3-9-2013, Swan Flats Area

Recent Avalanches

Backcountry riders reported a handful of wind slab avalanches yesterday in the Wasatch and Uinta Ranges, with one triggered slide in the Uintas running on old January faceted snow

No new avalanches were reported recently in the Logan Area, and very few people have been out in the last few days.....

Here's a link to our updated Avalanche List.

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

Triggered wind slab avalanches in the 1 to 3-foot-deep range remain likely in drifted upper elevation terrain. Watch for and avoid stiffer snow and fresh drifts on the lee of major ridges and in and around terrain features like sub-ridges, rock bands, and gullies. In very isolated places, the wind drifts could have overloaded pockets of shallow weak snow, often near rocks, in upper elevation terrain, resulting in a deeper slide.

Freshly built-up and greatly enlarged cornices are also a concern, as they may still be fairly sensitive today, might break further back than you expect, and could trigger significant wind slab avalanches on slopes below.

Avalanche Problem #2
Wet Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description

Any steep slope with a foot or more of freshly accumulated snow is suspect. Solar warming will cause the new snow to become damp and more likely to avalanche. Natural soft slab avalanches are possible as they are initially warmed up and the surface becomes damp today. Triggered moist sluffs or point release type avalanches could entrain significant snow in descent and pile up deeply below steep slopes. Be sure nobody is below you, and watch for potential terrain traps....

Additional Information

We'll see lots of sunshine in the mountains today, with 9000' high temperatures around 34 degrees and a northerly breeze. Snow showers are possible tonight, with an inch or two of accumulation possible and moderate west winds... Snow showers are likely tomorrow, and it'll be mostly cloudy with moderate west winds and temperatures in the upper thirties. Sunny conditions will return on Friday and a warm-up is expected as we head into the weekend. Cool moist weather is expected Sunday and into the early part of next week.

Check out the Logan Mountain Weather page...

General Announcements

For a printer friendly version of this advisory click HERE

Remember your information from the backcountry can save lives. If you see or trigger an avalanche, 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.

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