Logan Avalanche Advisory

Forecaster: Toby Weed

BOTTOM LINE

Danger by aspect and elevation on slopes approaching 35° or steeper.
(click HERE for tomorrow's danger rating)


Danger Rose Tutorial

Overall there’s a MODERATE danger in the backcountry.  But, there are still pockets where the danger is  CONSIDERABLE, mainly on steep drifted slopes in exposed upper elevation terrain.  You’ll find dangerous avalanche conditions in these areas. Use conservative decision making, careful route finding, and good travel habits.  Training and experience are essential in upper elevation terrain....


CURRENT CONDITIONS

Over the weekend, the Tony Grove Snotel recorded 17 inches of settled accumulation containing 1.8 inches of water equivalent.  There's now over 3 feet of total snow on the ground. 

You'll find deep cold powder conditions at upper elevations, if you're able to get up there.  The Tony Grove Road is getting a bit sketchy for wheeled vehicles, with a couple feet of fresh snow drifted onto the upper reaches of the unmaintained road, and several people spent a long time digging out stuck rigs over the weekend.  You'll find deep powder conditions with plenty of challenging riding on untracked mountain roads, upper elevation meadows, and on lower angled hills.


RECENT ACTIVITY

A party of backcountry skiers triggered a couple soft slab avalanches on Saturday in the Miller Bowl area south of Tony Grove Lake.  I don't think they were too surprised when the avalanches occurred because the potential was obvious... The avalanches were around a foot deep and ended up running on the stout rain-crust from mid-November.  (photos)

I found a suspect layer consisting of faceted crystals and graupel above the crust in the crown.


THREAT #1

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

Heavy snowfall combined with strong westerly winds over the weekend loaded large quantities of snow over vast lee fetch areas.  Weak preexisting layers consisting of faceted snow above the stout mid-November rain-crust may continue to be sensitive to human triggers, and soft slab avalanches in the 1 to 3' deep range are possible at upper elevations.


THREAT #2

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

Saturday morning's strong southwest winds built wind slabs with the prefrontal snow we got on Friday night.  These are now buried under several inches of light powder, and they may not be so obvious today.  Also, with all the nice powder on the snow surface, it won't take much wind (or a wind shift) to build fresh slabs that will likely be sensitive to your weight.  Watch out today in upper elevation terrain exposed to wind drifting with south and southeasterly winds.


MOUNTAIN WEATHER

We might pick up a few inches in the mountains today and overnight as somewhat showery snowfall should resume...The rest of the week looks unsettled and cold, with the most productive weather effecting the mountains of southern Utah. Until towards the end of the week when another cold storm pushes out of Canada...


GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

The major access to upper elevation snow is via the Tony Grove Road, which is not maintained for wheeled vehicles in the winter.  It is however, heavily used by different wintertime user groups, and this time of year patience and restrained speeds in congested areas are important safety concerns....

If you have observations from the backcountry, especially if you see or trigger an avalanche, please let us know.  You can leave a message at (435) 755-3638 or 1-800-662-4140, or email us at uac@utahavalanchecenter.org. (Fax 801-524-6301).

The UAC depends on contributions from users like you to support our work.  To find out more about how you can support our efforts to continue providing the avalanche forecasting and education that you expect please visit our Friends page.

The information in this advisory is from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content.  This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.


This information does not apply to developed ski areas or highways where avalanche control is normally done.  This advisory is from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.


This advisory provided by the USDA Forest Service, in partnership with:

The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center, Utah Division of State Parks and Recreation, Utah Division of Emergency Management, Salt Lake County, Salt Lake Unified Fire Authority and the friends of the La Sal Avalanche Center. See our Sponsors Page for a complete list.