Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Logan Area Mountains Issued by Toby Weed for Wednesday - March 26, 2014 - 7:07am
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Heightened avalanche conditions exist in the backcountry and there's a MODERATE or level 2 danger. You could trigger shallow fresh and/or developing wind slabs or cornice falls in drifted upper elevation terrain, and wet avalanches are possible on some melt-softened slopes after very warm temperatures yesterday and a poor overnight refreeze. Evaluate the snow and terrain carefully

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special announcement

Sale on all remaining discount lift tickets donated to the Utah Avalanche Center from Beaver Mountain, Wolf Mountain, Sundance, and Brian Head: The few remaining tickets are being blown out with all proceeds used to pay for avalanche advisories and education. Go here to get your tickets.

Snow coverage and conditions are stellar at Beaver Mountain this spring. 3-12-2014
current conditions

Temperatures remained mild last night, and snow surface refreezes were poor. Surface crusts are likely to be rather superficial, capping warm, moist, and in some cases soft dusty old snow. At 1:00 this morning, the Tony Grove Snotel at 8400' reported 43 degrees, and there was 98 inches of total snow, with 130% of average water content for the date. Temperatures appear to be dropping and it's 28 degrees at the 9700' CSI Logan Peak weather station. I'm reading average wind speeds in the lower teens from the west currently, diminishing after averaging over 30 mph for a few hours overnight.


recent activity

No avalanches were reported recently in the Logan Zone. Visit our Backcountry Observations Page for details on the season's activity.
Avalanche Problem 1
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description
  • Avoid and stay out from under large and overhanging cornices along major ridge-lines, which are likely to break further back than you expect and could trigger avalanches on slopes below. Warm temperatures yesterday and overnight caused some of these to sag and buckle, and some may naturally fail in only gradually cooling conditions today.
  • South winds were strong yesterday evening and overnight, and we can expect fairly strong west winds to continue today. Although there isn't much in the way of transportable snow yet, some stiff wind slabs may have formed at upper elevations, and we can expect more wind slab development with fresh accumulations today. Avoid stiffer, recently drifted snow in steep lee terrain and in and around terrain features like gully walls, outcroppings, or under cliffs.

Avalanche Problem 2
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 10 hours
description

Wet avalanches will remain possible on slopes with warmth softened snow, with only gradual cooling today after fairly warm overnight temperatures. Avoid slopes with wet snow that you sink into or post-holing situations.

weather

Snow is likely today, with fairly strong west wind, 8500' high temperatures around 40 degrees, and 3 to 7 inches of accumulation forecast, some thunder is also possible. We'll see a bit of a break tonight, with southwest winds, temperatures dropping to around 22 degrees and 1 to 3 inches possible. It'll be much colder tomorrow, with a high of 31 degrees, strong and gusty southwest winds, some thunder possible, and 8 to 12 inches of accumulation forecast. We should see another short-lived break on Friday before more storms in a springtime train swing through the region; a pattern continuing well into next week.

Check out our one-stop weather page........HERE
general announcements

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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.

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I'll issue these advisories on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday mornings through March, and will then switch to issuing weekend and intermittent advisories through April.

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.