Hello and good
morning, this is Toby Weed of the
Current
Conditions:
Temperatures climbed above zero overnight and are
in the high single digits or teens in most locations. Upper elevation winds are
from the southwest with gusts near 30 mph recorded on Logan Peak this
morning. You’ll find overcast skies in
the mountains, with a good chance for a few inches of snowfall during the
day. We’ve been able to find nice
re-crystallized or loud powder conditions in
the backcountry lately, but the choices are becoming a bit more limited
to sheltered and shady terrain. You can
find wind, rime, and sun crusts on various slopes, and large grained suface
hoar or frost is everywhere uneffected by wind or direct sun.
Avalanche
Conditions:
I was a little surprised, but it was not completely unexpected when I
tickled out a wind slab avalanche
yesterday near the summit of Big Baldy in upper First Waterfall Hollow. The 50-60’ wide by 1’ deep avalanche involved
stiff freshly drifted snow deposited overnight on small grained sugary snow
called near surface facets. We’ve
received numerous reports of similar activity from the
Today you could find some of the same type of wind slab action on many
drifted slopes steeper than about 35 degrees.
The problem is most likely to be found at upper elevations, near ridge
tops, and on slopes facing the northern half of the compass. Slabs will be around 1’ deep and may be quite
sensitive, as many formed on weak surface snow.
Watch for smooth chalky looking or hollow sounding drifts on steep
exposed slopes and cross-loading in and around terrain features like gully
walls, roll-offs, sub-ridges, and cliff bands.
Bottom Line:
There’s a MODERATE danger and
you could trigger avalanches on steep wind drifted slopes in the backcountry,
especially in exposed upper elevation terrain.
A LOW
danger exists in sheltered terrain, and significant avalanches are generally
unlikely on most slopes. Use good snow
assessment and safe travel techniques to minimize your risks. Expect the danger to rise significantly this
weekend with heavy snowfall and strong winds in the forecast.
Mountain
Weather:
Brace yourselves for a large winter storm tapping
into tropical moisture, which will bring lots of snow to the region beginning
late this weekend. Expect a good chance
for a few inches of snowfall in the mountains today and a moderate
southwesterly wind. Should have a break
on Saturday as temperatures warm a bit and winds pick up from the south. Snow will start to fly in a prefrontal
environment Saturday night. Sunday looks
downright stormy, with heavy snowfall and strong winds a good possibility. The avalanche danger will rise drastically in
such an event.
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
I'm very
interested to know what you're seeing out there. Please
e-mail observations to me at [email protected] or leave me a message at 755-3638, especially if you
see or trigger an avalanche in the backcountry. We keep all observations
confidential.
The second annual avalanche awareness ride is
Saturday Feb. 2nd and we’d love to see all of you there! Proceeds help to support snowmobile specific
avalanche awareness projects. Details can be found at http://www.avarides.com/
This advisory will expire in 24 hours from the
posting time.
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.