Hello, this is Toby Weed of the
Current Conditions:
Cooler daytime temperatures and below freezing nights are making for nice
spring snow conditions in the region.
We’ve been finding fine and smooth snow
conditions on most slopes, with the added bonus of numerous avalanche paths
snaking into lower elevations and providing good access to upper elevations in
places. Many slopes where large
natural avalanches occurred late in February or early in March are now smooth,
and you can find good riding conditions in smoothed-in runout zones and gullies. Mountain temperatures should drop into
the upper twenties overnight and will climb into the lower forties under partly
cloudy skies on Friday.
Avalanche
Conditions:
Cooler
weather in the past couple days has helped to keep wet avalanche activity in
check. I’m much more comfortable with the overall snow stability situation in
the backcountry now that the saturated snow is re-freezing at night. I easily triggered small soft slab and
new snow wet avalanches on steep slopes yesterday, and I noticed some small
natural wet avalanches on steep upper elevation slopes today. No large wet
avalanches were reported or observed in the region since last weekend.
Despite
the cooler weather, our biggest concern continues to be potential wet
avalanches. Your best strategy for
minimizing your risk these days includes both an early morning start and an
early afternoon retreat. If you
limit your backcountry time to morning hours and stay off of saturated slopes
that don’t support your weight, you’ll avoid exposure to most of the existing
avalanche dangers. Dangerously
large wet slab avalanches are still possible on numerous steep slopes in the
region, and they are most probable after slopes are softened by daytime heat.
All but the most northerly facing
slopes are plagued by now-moistened depth hoar and an overlying slab, and these
are most sensitive to triggering when soft in
Bottom Line:
There’s a MODERATE danger in the backcountry. Triggered wet avalanches are possible on
steep slopes with saturated snow, especially on sun exposed slopes after
Mountain Weather:
Fair conditions will rule the
weather pattern through much of the upcoming weekend. Mountain temperatures should drop below
freezing in most locations overnight, and will be approaching 40 degrees under
partly cloudy skies on Friday. A high pressure system will dominate the pattern
over the weekend, but an increasingly strong southwest flow aloft will set up
over the region on Monday. It looks like a major change in the pattern beginning
on Tuesday when a cold trough moves in heralding a return to winter complete
with potentially significant snowfall and well below average temperatures.
General Information:
Check out photos of last week's
avalanches in the Logan Area on our images
page.
Go to the Avalanche
Encyclopedia if you have any questions about terms I use in the
advisory. I also recommend the recently-released Media Page, which
shows the forecast danger for our coverage areas across the state.
Please e-mail me at
[email protected] or leave me a message at 755-3638 if you see or trigger
avalanches in the backcountry. The information you provide may save
lives...
This advisory will expire on Friday
night. I will update it again on Saturday morning.
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.