Logan Avalanche Advisory

Forecaster: Toby Weed

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Hope to see you at the 6th annual "Pray for Snow" Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center fundraiser dinner on Wednesday, December 2nd at 6:30 at the Italian Place on Federal Ave. Here's your chance to support your very own local avalanche center......


BOTTOM LINE

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


Danger Rose Tutorial

There are still pockets with a MODERATE danger of wind slab avalanches on drifted upper elevation slopes steeper than about 35 degrees.


CURRENT CONDITIONS

Snow cover is limited to north facing upper elevation slopes, and hitting rocks or other shallowly buried obstacles probably still presents the largest safety concern....

Riding is still pretty much confined to upper elevation roadways, and you have to slow down and watch out for pedestrians, especially in congested areas like Tony Grove.


RECENT ACTIVITY

On Monday, I triggered a fairly large avalanche from the ridge in the West Tony Grove Area. I stamped my ski on the drifted snow along the low angled ridge line when the slab pealed out along the ridge in front and washed into the bowl below. The avalanche, triggered at 9400' on a north northeast facing slope was 1 to 2 feet deep, around 300' wide, and ran around 600' vertical. It was a a bit larger and the slope a bit more sensitive than I'd expected, and it caused us to reevaluate our plan and return to safer, lower elevation sheltered terrain.

click:avalanche report


THREAT #1

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

Today, there are pockets where you might trigger stiff wind slab avalanches in the 1 to 2 foot deep category on steep drifted slopes with preexisting snow in exposed terrain. Some old slabs sit on weak, faceted snow and some fresh drifts formed yesterday in exposed terrain by cross-loading.


THREAT #2

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
No probability identified.
No size identified.
No trend identified.

Probably rocks will still be the biggest threat out there, but now you should certainly begin to follow proper traveling protocols and carry and practice with your avalanche rescue gear...

Remember; try to get into the habit of, when ever possible, only exposing one member of your party to avalanche risk at a time. This really means spread out farther when traveling on or under steep terrain...


MOUNTAIN WEATHER

The southern segment of a split Pacific storm, now over Southern California, will begin to affect Southern Utah later today. Up north, after some cloudiness today, a high pressure system will build back in and control the weather for much of next week. The next storm system is expected around the end of the week, but the models are in severe disagreement, apparently making a forecast difficult.


GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

We will be issuing intermittent avalanche advisories as conditions warrant. I'll begin to issue regular advisories in December when the winter season gets rolling....

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We appreciate avalanche and snow observations. If there’s something we should know about give us a call at (435-)755-3638 or 1-800-662-4140, or email us at uac@utahavalanchecenter.org. (Fax 801-524-6301).

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.


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.