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 March 5, 2006

Hello and good morning, this is Toby Weed of the Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center with your Logan area backcountry avalanche and mountain weather advisory.  It's Sunday  March 5th 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 Avalanchetools.com.

Current Conditions:

I guess I'm spoiled by a fantastic snow year, but the snow conditions I found yesterday didn't impress me much.  But, you can ride or ski anywhere on mostly supportable snow.   Rain formed a crust on Tuesday, even at the highest elevations.  It's now buried under less than a foot (and far less on many slopes) by our last two rather skimpy snowstorms, and there are many areas at mid and lower elevations where you won't sink in past your boot-top.  The Snotel site at Tony Grove picked up 4/10ths of an inch of water in around 5 inches of wind-blown powder.  It's 22 degrees at Temple Fork this morning and 15 atop Logan Peak.  Persistent winds are from the southwest, averaging around 20 mph.

  Snow and Avalanche Conditions:

You still might be able to trigger a wind slab or two on some steep slopes today.  Yesterday's winds dropped down into the mid-elevations, and widespread powder drifting occurred.  Part-time avalanche forecaster, Dave Kikkert easily triggered numerous manageable ridge-top soft slabs with ski-cuts in the Wood Camp area. (photo2) These involved only the few inches of new snow that fell Friday night, and most will have settled out or become far less sensitive by today.  I'm more concerned by thicker isolated hard-slabs or older drifts, some of which are resting on a layer of sugary or faceted snow.  You might find problem areas on very steep slopes near ridge-tops or right up under cornices, most commonly on upper elevation slopes facing northwest, north, and northeast.

Seasonal solar warming may cause saturation of the surface snow on some sunny slopes around midday, and some wet avalanches are a possibility.  I suspect these will be limited to shallow point-releases or sluffs on very steep slopes.

Bottom Line:

There's a MODERATE danger, and you could trigger avalanches on some wind-drifted slopes steeper than about 35 degrees in the backcountry.  You can find a LOW danger, with avalanches generally unlikely on the majority of steep slopes, especially in sheltered areas.

Mountain Weather:

It'll be sunny and warm today with continuing south winds in the 20 mph range.  The winds will increase tonight, and clouds will thicken ahead of an energetic storm, which will begin to move into the area on Monday.  I look forward for a return to winter in the coming days. A decent snow event is a good bet for Monday night into Tuesday, but things could get real juicy later in the week, with significant snowfall and far below normal temperatures.

General Information: 

If you're confused by some of our avalanche terms check out the cool new Avalanche Encyclopedia. 

For a list of recent avalanches in  the regional backcountry go to Avalanche List.  Snow nerds, check out the new Snow Profiles page.  Check out our Images Page for pictures of recent local avalanches.

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 on Monday morning. Dave Kikkert will update it on Monday night.

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.