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

There's a MODERATE (2) danger, and triggered avalanches are possible on many steep slopes in the backcountry around Logan. Heightened avalanche conditions exist in shady steep upper and mid elevation terrain, in outlying areas like the Wellsville Mountain and Mount Naomi Wildernesses, and on any steep slope with moist or saturated snow. Expect the danger to rise with stormy weather conditions on Thursday...

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


CURRENT CONDITIONS

You can find nice soft snow conditions on shady and sheltered slopes at mid and upper elevations.... Most other slopes are crusty or moist, depending on the temperature....The Tony Grove Snotel reports 2/10ths of an inch of water accumulation overnight, 69 inches of total snow containing 69% of average water for the date. It's 22 degrees and there's a fairly strong southwest wind up at the 9700' CSI weather station on Logan Peak.....


RECENT ACTIVITY

A snowmobiler was caught and his sled mostly buried in a good sized avalanche near Mantua on Sunday (2-28-10). With the exception of some wet sluffing on steep sunny slopes, no other activity has been reported in the Logan Area for several days...

Here's an updated local backcountry avalanche list:


THREAT #1

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

South winds picked up big time overnight and we picked up a little snow, so I'd expect to find fresh wind slabs on the lee sides of ridge lines and in terrain dictated deposition areas... Watch out for stiffer chalky looking snow on steep slopes, as harder wind slabs might allow you to get out on them before releasing.. In some areas, wind slabs may have formed on slopes with a buried persistent weak layer, and avalanches may involve older layers of snow.


THREAT #2

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

The February 10th surface hoar layer is gradually strengthening and avalanches are getting harder to find and more difficult to trigger. The problem is, persistent slab avalanches releasing on this layer now might not be as manageable or forgiving as last week's. The danger of this type of avalanche is higher in areas where slopes haven't been tested by human triggers and on slopes without old tracks, like those in the Mount Naomi and Wellsville Mountain Wildernesses. In some of these areas you still might might trigger a dangerous avalanche from a distance or from below.

Dangerous, deep slab avalanches are still possible in isolated areas, on steep slopes plagued by weak faceted snow in the basal layers of the snowpack.


THREAT #3

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 10 hours.

The sun is likely to peek out for a while today and the March-high sun angle will soften the snow on sunny slopes even though the air temperature may not get all that hot. Sheltered bowl areas with a tilt towards the sun could act like solar reflecting ovens, drastically heating the snow on some sunny slopes...Cloud cover is likely to trap heat causing an enhanced greenhouse affect... Rain may fall on lower elevation slopes. Triggered wet avalanches are probable on steep slopes with saturated snow and a few naturals are possible if localized temperatures spike.


MOUNTAIN WEATHER

A weak shortwave trough will bring a bit more snow to upper elevations today, but there will be a bit of a break in the clouds around midday allowing for some nice solar warming and greenhousing potential in the mountains. The rain/snow line should hover around 6000'. A fairly potent and moist Pacific storm is on track to hit northern Utah tomorrow afternoon with thunder, wind, and potentially significant snow accumulations in the mountains for Thursday night into Friday.


GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

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

Consider purchasing some Beaver Mountain lift tickets here from our good friends at Backcountry.com in partnership with Ski Utah. All proceeds benefit the Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center.

If you want to get this avalanche advisory e-mailed to you daily click HERE.

Send us your avalanche and snow observations. You can also call me at 435-757-7578 or the SLC office at 800-662-4140, or email to uac@utahavalanchecenter.org

Donate to your favorite non-profit – The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center. The UAC depends on contributions from users like you to support our work.

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 Friday morning. Thanks for checking in....


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.