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Wasatch-Cache National Forest  In partnership with:  Utah State Parks and Recreation, Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center-Logan, and Utah State University College of Natural Resources.

               

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Logan area Avalanche advisory

Sunday January 29, 2006

Good Morning, this is Dave Kikkert with your Logan area backcountry avalanche and mountain weather advisory from the Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center .  It's Sunday January 29th at 7:00 am.  This advisory is brought to you in part by the Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center in Logan with help from Import Auto.

Current Conditions:

Last night's fast moving storm didn't quite deliver what promised but it did leave us with about 5-6'' of snow, with Tony Grove juicing about 8-10 inches out of the storm.  To the south Ben Lomond Peak received 1.4 inches of water.  Winds were near 30 mph  from the west and west-southwest until about 8 pm last night when they shifted to the northwest and continue this morning in the 20 mph range.  Turning and riding was excellent yesterday on northerly facing slopes.  Today should be similar in terrain that was sheltered from southwest, west, and northwest winds.

Avalanche Conditions:

Saturday afternoon and evening sustained winds near 30 mph from the west-southwest easily whipped around all the light snow on the ground, forming sensitive wind-slabs by afternoon.  Most of these wind-slabs ran on a density inversion within Friday's snow and were about a foot to a foot and half deep.  Sensitive wind-drifts could be found even in low elevation terrain with extensive cross-loading near sub-ridges reported.  This morning new snow and continued winds have caused the avalanche danger to rise with the possibility of some natural avalanches late last night or early this morning in areas that received the most snow and wind.  The possibility of natural avalanches will decrease during the day, however both soft and hard slabs will remain sensitive and could  be a bit deeper than yesterday.  Note that the northwest winds overnight may have led to wind-loading in unusual areas, including southerly facing slopes.  Also watch out for wind-loaded areas near sub-ridges and gullies and in mid and lower elevation terrain.  In areas that received significant deposits of wind-drifted snow it may be possible to trigger a slide on the weak layer of facets and slick sun crusts that developed before Friday's storm.  A slide stepping down to facets or a crust may not be all that much deeper, however they could be a lot wider and can break out above you or be triggered from a distance.

Another storm is forecasted to arrive tonight and intensify  Monday afternoon with another 1-2 feet possible.  This will cause the avalanche danger to rise again tonight and significantly on Monday.

Bottom Line:

The avalanche danger in the backcountry today is CONSIDERABLEHuman triggered avalanches are probable and natural avalanches possible on steep wind effected slopes, on a variety of aspects, including slopes facing east and southeast.  With significant snowfall tonight and Monday the avalanche danger may rise to  HIGH  with sizable natural avalanches likely.

Mountain Weather:

Most the snowfall seems to have ended and skies should be mostly cloudy today with a cold north-northwest wind this morning.   Wind should eventually  move back around to a more westerly direction and snowfall should begin again late tonight and intensify sometime Monday afternoon.  Snow totals from Monday are forecast to be in the 18 to 24 inch range.  Westerly flow with a bit more snow possible is forecast until Thursday.

General Information: 

For a list of our upcoming classes and awareness talks, go to our Education page . For a list of recent avalanches in  the regional backcountry go to Avalanche List.  Snow nerds, check out the new Snow Profiles page.  You may enjoy our Images Page.

Please send backcountry observations to [email protected] or leave a message at 755-3638, especially if you see or trigger an avalanche in the backcountry. We really want to hear from you, even if you think your observation is unimportant.    The information you provide may save lives...

This advisory will expire Monday morning.  Toby Weed update it again Tuesday evening.

The information in this advisory is from the U.S. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content.  This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur. 

 

National Weather Service - Salt Lake City - Snow.