Dangerous avalanche conditions exist today in the backcountry. The danger is HIGH and natural avalanches are likely or occurring this morning in drifted terrain at upper elevations. The Tony Grove Snotel at 8400' reports 13 inches of light snow overnight, containing .8" of water. There's 40 inches of total snow at the site containing 69% of average water content for the date. West winds increased last night during periods of heavy snowfall, easily drifting the light snow, with the UDOT Hwy 89 Summit weather station recording average wind speeds in the mid twenties and gusts of around 40 mph. The CSI Logan Peak weather station is currently reporting single digit average NW wind speeds and a chilly 2 degrees at 9700'.
Very weak faceted snow is widespread at mid and upper elevations in the Bear River Range, and it's now capped by a rather inconsistent rime or rain-crust and up to around a foot of light powder. Wind and accumulating snow are creating a heavier slab layer on top of the loose faceted snow.
Loose faceted snow crystals plague the shallow snowpack in the Logan Zone. (12-15-2015)
The shallow snow is quite weak across the Logan Zone and in the Providence Canyon where I found fist-hard snow from top to bottom. (12-15-2015)
Ski areas in the Ogden and Salt Lake Area mountains report more activity from control work yesterday, with a few triggered avalanches going pretty big, stepping down to the rocks, and involving old sugary snow in the basal layers of the snowpack. No avalanche activity has been reported in the Logan backcountry recently.