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Forecast for the Logan Area Mountains

Toby Weed
Issued by Toby Weed on
Saturday morning, March 21, 2015

Heightened wet avalanche conditions will develop again on steep backcountry slopes as daytime temperatures warm into the 50s. The snow is stable where it's solidly refrozen, but areas with dangerous wet avalanche conditions and a CONSIDERABLE (level 3) danger may exist during the afternoon heat on some upper elevation east and northeast facing slopes.

  • Evaluate the snow and terrain carefully, especially near cliffs or under cornices.
  • Avoid travel on melt-softened wet snow in shallow or rocky mid and upper elevation areas.

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Special Announcements

Special thanks to Buttar's of Tremonton and ArcticCat for hooking us up with the light and powerful M8000,

Weather and Snow

Heightened wet avalanche conditions still exist during the heat of the day in the backcountry. The snow in many areas is lacking a good overnight refreeze again, and powerful high angle sun and 50 degree temperatures at 9000' will once again cause the snow to soften and create a rising avalanche danger with saturated snow on some steep slopes. The Tony Grove Snotel reports 56 inches of total snow containing 78% of average water for the date. Temperatures did not drop below freezing last night again, and it's 37 degrees at 8400', which is the low. I'm reading temperatures in the twenties at the UDOT Hwy 89 Summit weather station with light and variable winds overnight.

Natural wet avalanches look like hot wax running off the mountain-sides. Mt. Magog from the east, 3-17-2015

Recent Avalanches

Widespread natural loose wet avalanches occurred across the Logan Zone during the heat of the day earlier in the week, and we observed natural activity on west, north, and east facing slopes at mid and upper elevations. Riders report observing a couple more sizable avalanches at upper elevations and on east facing slopes near the state line yesterday.

***Watch "Natural Wet Avalanches up in Tony Grove," an observation video from yesterday,(3-17-2015),.......... HERE


Recent wet avalanche just south of Doubletop Mountain in Steep Hollow. (3-20-2015)

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Avalanche Problem #1
Wet Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description

After yet another night without a good refreeze, midday temperatures at upper elevations warming to around 50 degrees, and rapidly softening saturated snow, wet avalanches are possible again in some steep terrain today, especially during the afternoon heat. Avoid shallow or rocky areas with melt-softened and saturated snow, and avoid travel under cliffs and ridge-top cornices, which may fail in the midday warmth and trigger wet avalanches below.

Additional Information

It'll be partly cloudy and mild in the mountains again, with a high temperature at 9000' around 51 degrees and moderate west winds. It'll be mostly cloudy tonight, , with an expected low temperature around 32 degrees and west-northwest winds. It'll be partly cloudy tomorrow, with high temperatures around 46 degrees and increasing southwest wind. We might see a bit of snow in the mountains on Monday, with 3 to 5 inches of accumulation possible. A few more inches may accumulate Monday night and Tuesday, and at least some much needed cooler temperatures are in store for early next week.

***Check out our one-stop weather page........HERE

General Announcements

***Advisories by email for the Logan Zone. Go here for details.

Discount lift tickets are now available at Backcountry.com. Thanks to Ski Utah and the Utah Resorts. All proceeds go towards paying for Utah Avalanche Center avalanche and mountain weather advisories.

Benefit the Utah Avalanche Center when you shop from Backcountry.com or REI: Click this link for Backcountry.com or this link to REI, shop, and they will donate a percent of your purchase price to the UAC. Both offer free shipping (with some conditions) so this costs you nothing!

***Please submit snow and avalanche observations from your ventures in the backcountry HERE. You can call us at 801-524-5304 or email HERE, or include #utavy in your Instagram or Tweet us @UAClogan. To report avalanche activity in the Logan Area or to contact the local avalanche forecaster call me, Toby, at 435-757-7578.

As we're rapidly heading into spring, next week we'll begin posting these advisories intermittently and as conditions change. 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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