The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for the mountains across the region through tomorrow afternoon. Heavy snowfall with possible accumulations of up to 1-2 feet, and sustained northwest winds of 20 to 30 mph are possible....

This morning there is a level 2 or MODERATE avalanche danger in the backcountry, and heightened avalanche conditions exist on drifted upper and mid elevation elevation slopes. Triggered wind slab and isolated deep slab avalanches are possible in steep exposed terrain...Expect an increasing avalanche danger today with a Winter Storm Warning, heavy snowfall, and sustained winds forecast... The danger at upper elevations is likely to rise to Level 3, CONSIDERABLE by afternoon, especially in areas that receive significant accumulations and drifting...Careful snowpack evaluation, cautious route finding and conservative decision making will become essential in the backcountry today....

The productive storm earlier this week filled in the rocky upper elevation terrain across the region with several feet of dense and drifted snow. Lower elevations also did fairly well, but there's only a foot or less at most trailheads and front side canyons. Winds have damaged the snow surface in exposed areas, but sheltered slopes are still soft and powdery.... All this will change today with several inches of snow possible.

The Tony Grove Snotel reports a bit of new snow and 3/10s of an inch of water overnight and 47 inches of total snow containing 10.7 inches of water. The Campbell Scientific Logan Peak weather station reports sustained 15-20 mph winds out of the south overnight, shifting from the west this morning. It's 12 degrees at 9700'.

Tragically,a snowmobiler from Evanston, Wyoming was killed by a hard slab avalanche in the Western Uinta Mountains on Friday. Our condolences go out to his family and friends. We have a preliminary report and Craig Gordon will post a more complete report today....

Locally, I noticed evidence a fair amount of natural activity at upper elevations from during the productive and windy storm earlier in the week. Some of these were large and substantial hard slab avalanches....see list

The National Weather service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for the mountains through 4:00 tomorrow... We'll see snowfall most of the day today, with 6" or so likely by evening. 1 to 2 feet of powdery accumulation is forecast for favored upper elevations by Monday morning. We're hoping for fairly light density snow, but increasing and sustained northwest winds are forecast for this afternoon... Temperatures will drop to around 5 degrees F tonight... Snow showers should tapper off tomorrow, and it will be cold with near zero daytime temperatures.

More snow is likely next week, but the models disagree as to timing and intensities of the storms.....

Don't miss our annual Pray for Snow party and fundraiser, Wednesday December 1st at the Italian Place.

We're offering another free backcountry avalanche awareness/Know Before You Go talk on Tuesday, December 7 at 6:00 downstairs at the Logan Ranger District office 1500 E Hwy 89 in Logan....

You can view a photo summary of last year's avalanche activity in the Logan Area HERE

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

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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.