There is a CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger in the backcountry around Logan, and dangerous avalanche conditions exist on upper and mid elevation slopes plagued by notoriously persistent buried weak layers. Triggered persistent slabs and very dangerous deep hard slab avalanches remain likely on slopes steeper than about 35 degrees. You could trigger avalanches remotely from a distance, or worse from below. Smaller avalanches overrunning slopes with deeply buried weak layers could produce much larger deep slab avalanches...

Careful snowpack evaluation, cautious route-finding, and conservative decision-making are essential for safe travel in the backcountry today.

With a temperature of 20 degrees at 6:00 this morning, the 8400' Tony Grove Snotel reports 40 inches of total snow on the ground and with the help of a moist New Years storm, the station is now up to 47% of average water content for the date. I'm thinking fairly light winds this morning and its 15 degrees at the Campbell Scientific weather station on Logan Peak, where the wind sensor appears rimed.....

The New Year brought warmer and much denser wind driven and rimed snow, which now sits as a hefty slab atop a shallow weak base...In many places, if you step off your sled or take off your skis, you sink straight to the ground...Trying to walk anywhere in boots is a horrendous wallow.....

On Friday a party in the Southern Bear River Range remotely triggered a wide hard slab avalanche on a southeast facing slope off an exposed ridge at a bit over 8000' in elevation...The 1'-3' deep avalanche reported was about as wide as a football field...I posted the report here

Saturday, snowmobilers remotely triggered a couple good sized avalanches from an adjacent slope in Providence Canyon near the warming hut under Providence Peak. The near miss occurred on a relatively small slope compared to many in the popular hill-climbing area, which remain mostly untracked.. (1-2-10 avalanche report)

Its been a week since we visited a very wide avalanche on Cornice Ridge. The 2'-6' deep by 1/4 mile? wide Christmas Holiday avalanche involved nearly the entire cirque.......The avalanche report is here.

Under mostly sunny skies, mountain temperatures will approach 30 degrees today...With a high pressure in place overhead and warming aloft, the conditions are ripe for dense overnight fog in Cache Valley....A weak system will begin to affect our region tomorrow, with increasing clouds and a chance for a bit of snow for the mid-section of the week. The high pressure should build in again around Thursday.

I will be issuing morning avalanche advisories for the Logan area on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

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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.

I will update this forecast Wednesday morning. Thanks for checking in....