Sorry about the late posting of this advisory, but we had a few technical issues this morning...

You'll find heightened avalanche conditions and a level 2 or Moderate danger on some drifted slopes in the backcountry. You could trigger wind slab avalanches running on shallowly buried persistent weak layers in terrain exposed to wind drifting. Also on very steep slopes, you are still likely to trigger potentially long running, loose dry sluffs. Do not underestimate the risk of being swept into shallowly buried rocks or trees below. You should evaluate the snow and terrain carefully this weekend, especially on steep drifted slopes.

A few inches of fresh snow helped snow conditions out a lot, but sustained northwest winds drifted the light fluff into sensitive wind slabs in exposed areas. The snow cover is still just too thin for off track riding, and you will likely hit rocks if you venture into untracked snow anywhere but on the smoothest meadows. It is easy to bog down and become stuck in sugary, structureless snow.... The Campbell Scientific Logan Peak weather station at 9700' reports 20 degrees and sustained 20+mph winds from the northwest for around the last 36 hours. Fairly significant drifting occurred with the light snow from Wednesday's storm... The Tony Grove Snotel at 8400' reports 25 degrees, and there is 32 inches of total snow on the ground.. With 7.4 inches of water equivalent, the station sits at 62% of average for the date..

A party triggered a small wind slab avalanche in the Central Wasatch Range, but thankfully nobody got caught. (See the posting on our Current Conditions Page.) No avalanches were reported recently in the Logan Zone, but we triggered several instances of shooting cracks on Thursday and an observer was able to crack out a few ridgetop drifts at mid elevations in the Central Bear River Range yesterday.

High pressure will control the weather through the holiday weekend. An increasingly moist zonal or westerly flow in the weather pattern will develop early next week, which will open the door to almost daily disturbances and increasing likelihood of light accumulating snow to our area starting around midweek....

Please send us your observations from the backcountry especially if you see or trigger an avalanche, but also even if you don't.. go to avalanche and snow observations. You can also call me directly at 435-757-7578 or leave us a message at our office, 801-524-5304.... And, you can always send us a simple email by clicking HERE

If you are looking for a meaningful gift for a loved one, consider giving an avalanche class... We offer several great learning opportunities in January in Logan including an Advanced Avalanche Skills Workshop on the 5th and 7th, and a Women's Backcountry 101 class on the 12th and 14th. Many other opportunities from across the state are listed on our Education Page.

I will update this advisory by around 7:30 in the morning on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.....

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.