The Utah Avalanche Center Home page is: http://www.avalanche.org/~uac/
(click on) Utah Avalanche Center in Logan for our home page
Logan
Hello and good morning, this is Toby
Weed of the
We will continue to issue avalanche
statements intermittently through the month of April.
Current
Conditions:
You can find nice smooth spring snow
conditions in the backcountry, but you might have to ride on paved road or walk
over a little dry ground to get up to upper elevations. Most people have stowed the winter gear
and the backcountry is pretty quiet and smooth these days….But, we’re not quite
done with the season. A foot to a
foot-and-a-half of accumulation is expected at upper elevations
overnight…
Avalanche
Conditions:
One party reported sighting a significant
recent wet
slab avalanche, probably triggered by a cornice fall off a cliff. With some other observed wet
activity from the early April warm spell, this avalanche near
Although
I’ve mostly found solid fern-like conditions in the backcountry recently, you
still need to asses the springtime snow in the backcountry and you could
encounter avalanche problems. Wet
avalanches are possible when slopes are softened by melt…Loose wet avalanches
become likely when fresh snow is initially warmed up. Deeper, wet slabs, cornice falls, and
glide avalanches all become more possible when it doesn’t get cold enough at
night to refreeze the snow and melt-water invades existing weak layers or pools
on crusts or bedrock. You can avoid
many problems by getting an early start and avoiding steep slopes that are
softened by
Whenever
we get real a spring snowstorm, wind slab and or storm snow avalanches will
become a concern. The stability of
the new snow depends on the condition of the sun-crust it
falls upon. The theory is; if the
crust is frozen solidly when the snow starts to accumulate it won’t be as stable
as it will be if the crust is soft and warm. Wind drifting might cause a significant
danger on lee slopes near ridge-lines and around terrain features like gullies
or rock out-croppings and along vertical sub-ridges. New snow instabilities (and powder snow
quality) will only linger for a little while after the storm abates, but loose
wet avalanches will likely be an issue as slopes are
warmed.
Mountain
Weather:
The
National Weather Service issued a Winter
Storm Watch for the Mountains of Northern Utah for late tonight through
Thursday morning. Snow and rain
showers are possible this evening, but accumulating snowfall is expected with
and after frontal passage early Wednesday morning. A foot to 1.5 feet of accumulation is
possible by Thursday morning.
General Information:
Check out photos of 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
Please continue to e-mail
backcountry observations to me at [email protected] or leave me a message
at 755-3638. I will frequently
check my messages throughout the spring.
I will update this statement as
conditions change.
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.
