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
Current
Conditions: The snow in the backcountry is generally
supportable, and you can ride almost anywhere, but it’s getting a bit harder to
find any untracked and desirable terrain.
With some knowledge of the local terrain or willingness to explore, you
can find reasonably good reconstituted and shallow powder conditions on
sheltered slopes facing the northern third of the compass. Most likely you’ll also encounter less than
perfect snow conditions along the way.
Exposed slopes at upper elevation are wind damaged in everyway possible
from strong winds during the last week from just about every direction. Sunny
slopes are crusted at all elevations, and you might even find some nice smooth,
firm, and spring-like snow on a few slopes in the morning. The winds at the CSI weather station on
Avalanche Conditions: Folks were able to find and trigger a handful of wind slabs in
the
After
several windy days and a short blizzard last week, sustained northwesterly
winds over the weekend formed drifts with the small amount of available snow
unbound by existing sun-crusts. Some
wind slabs probably formed in avalanche starting zones plagued by weak frost
crystals or surface hoar and/or a slick rime or sun-crust. You might trigger fresh or older wind slabs
on very steep slopes, especially at the highest elevations. Remember that hard wind slabs tend to be
rather stubborn, meaning they might allow you to get well out on them before
releasing.
The solar oven effect may come into play in sheltered sunny
terrain and wet avalanches may be possible around
Bottom Line: Overall today you’ll find a LOW danger
in the backcountry and avalanches are generally unlikely. However,
there are some pockets with a MODERATE danger, and
avalanches are possible on a few steep slopes.
You might trigger wind slab avalanches on very steep slopes in exposed
upper elevation terrain or loose wet avalanches on a few sheltered
mid-elevation sunny slopes. Avoid
obvious drifts or moist surface snow on steep slopes and use good snow
assessment and safe travel techniques to minimize your risk.
Mountain
Weather: A storm passing to our north and east will bring cloud cover and a chance
for a little snowfall today. West winds
will gradually shift around from the north.
Expect similar conditions as another storm grazes by tomorrow. It’ll dry out, bringing fair weather to the
region in the first part of next week. A
moist and productive system looks to be lining up for later in the week.
General Announcements:
This advisory will
expire in 24 hours from the posting time.
Check out the images page for photos of some of
last week’s avalanches.
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 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.
