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| Advisory: Logan Area Mountains | Issued by Toby Weed for Saturday - December 14, 2013 - 6:36am |
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bottom line Heightened avalanche conditions exist and there's a MODERATE (or level 2) danger on drifted slopes at upper and mid-elevations. Avoid steep rocky and previously drifted terrain and steep slopes with poor snow structure, where you still could trigger dangerous persistent slab avalanches. Loose avalanches or sluffs entraining significant unconsolidated snow are possible and growing more likely on steep shady slopes. Very shallow and rocky early season snow conditions exist across the Logan Zone. Evaluate the snow and terrain carefully.
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current conditions Yesterday's angry inch of new snow didn't affect the avalanche danger or help the riding conditions much. The Tony Grove Snotel at 8400' reports 18 degrees this morning, and there is 23 inches of total snow containing 59% of average water equivalent for the date. The 9700' Logan Peak weather station reports 13 degrees and northwest winds averaging around 10 mph. We've been finding the best conditions in smooth lower angled and sheltered terrain, since the recrystallized and frosty surface snow is pretty fast. But, we've also hit buried rocks more frequently in the past few days because the shallow snow pack continues to weaken and become even more unsupportable. The Tony Grove Road is not maintained for wheeled travel in the winter, and the road is currently very snowy, icy, and treacherous in places. A sled or 4-wheel-drive vehicles and chains are recommended. If you do ride up, remember that there are lots of pedestrians sharing the road, and you have to watch your speed. You still have to stay on the roads or in smooth grassy meadows with your sled or you'll sink right through the sugary snow, and you could do significant damage to your sled or yourself by hitting rocks.
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recent activity Locally: Although no significant avalanches were recently reported or observed, many people this week experienced localized collapsing and cracking in drifted upper elevation terrain, red flags indicating the existence of unstable snow.
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| type | aspect/elevation | characteristics |
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LIKELIHOOD
 LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
 LARGE
SMALL
TREND
 INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
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description
Heightened persistent slab avalanche conditions continue in upper and mid-elevation terrain. Slabs built up on top of preexisting very weak sugary or faceted snow, which is widespread in the region due to the prolonged Thanksgiving high pressure system. You'll find stiff old wind slabs in exposed terrain, especially in and around terrain features like gullies, scoops, sub-ridges, rock outcroppings and cliff bands. There are also some fresher shallow wind slabs from drifting yesterday. You could trigger persistent slab avalanches if you venture into steep terrain in some areas, and avalanches still might be triggered remotely, from a distance, or worse from below. You don't want to be caught and carried by any size avalanche, with very shallow snow and sharp rocks in runout zones. Collapsing and/or shooting cracks are obvious red flags requiring you to reevaluate your route, and you should continue to avoid steep rocky and drifted terrain. |
| type | aspect/elevation | characteristics |
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LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
 LARGE
SMALL
TREND
 INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
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description
The surface snow is becoming recrystallized (faceted) and weak like the rest of the snow pack. I triggered a manageable loose sluff Thursday on a steep north facing mid-elevation slope that entrained sugary snow, ran a bit further than expected, and took out my tracks below. In steep terrain loose avalanches could be a problem, especially around terrain features like gullies or rocky ground. Being caught and carried in even a small avalanche could be very dangerous due to rocks, bushes, stumps, and perhaps downed trees in the runout. I expect this problem to increase in scope as high pressure conditions continue and the snow further weakens..
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weather A dry northwest flow will prevail over the region, bringing stable or stagnate weather through the weekend and well into the upcoming work week. Expect partly sunny skies today, and perhaps a few snowflakes in the air this afternoon and evening, but little if any accumulation. 8500' high temperatures should reach around 27 degrees, today with moderate west winds.. A storm and a change in the weather pattern looks to be on track for around Thursday of next week. Check out our one stop weather page........HERE |
| general announcements Sign up early for one of our life-saving avalanche classes.......HERE And refresh your avalanche knowledge, check out some of our tutorials........HERE Follow us at UAClogan on Twitter Utah Avalanche Center mobile app - Get your advisory on your iPhone along with great navigation and rescue tools. Discount lift tickets are now available at Backcountry.com - Thanks to Ski Utah and the Utah Resorts, including Beaver Mountain. All proceeds go towards paying for Utah Avalanche Center avalanche and mountain weather advisories. Benefit the Utah Avalanche Center when you shop from Backcountry.com or REI: Click this link for Backcountry.com or this link to REI, shop, and they will donate a percent of your purchase price to the UAC. Both offer free shipping (with some conditions) so this costs you nothing! Benefit the Utah Avalanche Center when you buy or sell on ebay - set the Utah Avalanche Center as a favorite non-profit in your ebay account here and click on ebay gives when you buy or sell. You can choose to have your seller fees donated to the UAC, which doesn't cost you a penny. Remember your information can save lives. If you see anything we should know about, please participate in the creation of our own community avalanche advisory by submitting snow and avalanche conditions. You can also call us at 801-524-5304 or 800-662-4140, email by clicking HERE, or include #utavy in your tweet or Instagram. I'll issue advisories on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday mornings. This advisory is produced by the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. It describes only general avalanche conditions and local variations always exist. |
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