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.

                        The Utah Avalanche Center Home page is: http://www.avalanche.org/~uac/

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Logan area Avalanche advisory

 December 21, 2006

Hello, this is Toby Weed of the Utah Avalanche Center in Logan with your backcountry avalanche and mountain weather advisory.  It's Thursday  December 21, the shortest day  of the year, and it's 8:30 in the evening.  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:

Today I found good supportable winter-like snow conditions, with shallow re-crystallized powder on shady slopes and soft but corky-feeling snow on sunny slopes.  You can ride and turn almost anywhere.   Relentless winds spared a few slopes in the region, and your best bet for good powder conditions are on shady and sheltered mid-elevation slopes.  A few inches of accumulation are likely in the high country on Friday, with moderate north winds.  There are currently  41 inches on the ground at the Tony Grove Snotel site.

Avalanche Conditions:

 As fresh snow starts to pile up, your biggest concern will be fresh drifts forming on steep slopes.  You might trigger shallow soft slab avalanches on steep lee slopes or along ridge tops.  I don't think we'll get enough of a load with this storm to re-activate the deeply buried persistent weak layers, which exist on many slopes in the region.  But with a stout slab resting on suspect layers made up of sugary or faceted snow, I just can't ignore the lingering potential for an isolated dangerous hard slab avalanche on a very steep upper elevation slope.

***Check out images of last weekend's impressive hard slab avalanches........... And new pictures of a large avalanche in Upper White Pine Canyon.

Bottom Line:

There is a MODERATE  danger, and triggered wind slab avalanches are possible on steep slopes with wind deposited snow.  Although generally unlikely, dangerous triggered persistent hard slab avalanches are possible on some upper elevation slopes steeper than about 40 degrees.  Shallow, rocky areas and slopes above around 8500',  facing north and northeast are the most suspect. 

Mountain Weather:

The National Weather Service has issued a snow advisory for much of Utah for the day tomorrow.  We expect 4 to 6 inches of accumulation in the high country.  Another storm will move over the region on Saturday night, with potential for a period of heavy snowfall on Sunday morning.  Unsettled weather will continue through the final week of 2006 with small storms affecting the area every couple days.

General Information:

  The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center-Logan will present the 3rd annual fundraiser on Friday, January 19th at the Bullen Center in downtown Logan.

 I'll update my advisories on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and weekend mornings by about 7:00.   This advisory will expire on Wednesday evening.  I will update it again on Saturday morning.  Logan Area advisories will be accessible through the new statewide toll-free avalanche info line; 1-888-999-4019.

  Please  send backcountry observations to [email protected] or leave us a message at 755-3638, especially if you see or trigger an avalanche in the backcountry.

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.