Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Logan Area Mountains Issued by Toby Weed for Wednesday - January 14, 2015 - 7:27am
bottom line

Snow conditions are stable in most areas and the overall danger in the backcountry is LOW (level 1). If the sun comes out, solar warming may create heightened avalanche conditions on steep slopes, and loose wet avalanches are possible with midday warmth. Manageable triggered shallow wind slabs remain possible in some drifted upper elevation terrain.

  • Use normal caution
  • Evaluate the snow and terrain carefully.
  • Avoid steep sunny slopes with wet snow and drifted upper elevation terrain.




special announcement

Special thanks to Buttar's and ArcticCat for hooking us up with the light and powerful M8000. This machine will make our field days more fun, safe, and productive and will significantly boost our outreach and education efforts.

We picked up and tried out the new sled last week.

current conditions

The 8400' Tony Grove Snotel reports 59 inches of total snow containing 121% of average water for the date, and its 20 degrees this morning. The central part of the Bear River Range picked up about 5 inches of moderate density snow from Monday's storm, and there's less at lower elevations. We found a bit more fresh snow (about 8 inches), and pretty good smooth, shallow powder riding conditions in Providence Canyon yesterday.


recent activity

No avalanches reported locally since last week's natural wet activity.


Visit our Backcountry Observations Page for more information.....

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

If the sun comes out, shallow wet sluffs consisting of saturated fresh snow are possible in some steep terrain. Wet slides should be manageable, but even a small avalanche is likely to pick up and involve all the new snow in it's path on a nice smooth and hard bed surface. Periods of sun may cause the danger on some slopes to increase with midday solar warming or green-housing.

Avalanche Problem 2
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

In most areas the snow is fairly stable, but there are a few exceptions. Small and generally manageable triggered wind slab avalanches are possible on some drifted upper elevation slopes. And, although unlikely, deeper slab avalanches, failing on a buried persistent weak layer, remain a possibility in some isolated or outlying shallow terrain with existing poor snow structure. Avoid drifted slopes and be wary in rocky or shallow terrain, especially if you start sinking through sugary snow.

weather

It'll be mostly cloudy today with a high temperature at 8500' around 30 degrees.... Overnight low temperatures are expected to be around 21 degrees. It'll be mostly cloudy again tomorrow with high temperatures around 36 degrees. There is a possibility of a little snow on Friday and Friday night, but accumulations look light at best.

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

general announcements

You can now receive advisories by email for each region in the state including Logan.  Go here for details.

 Get your advisory on your iPhone along with great navigation and rescue tools.......  Utah Avalanche Center mobile app 

Please submit snow and avalanche observations from your ventures in the backcountry HERE. You can call us at 801-524-5304 or email HERE, or include #utavy in your Instagram or Tweet us @UAClogan. To report avalanche activity in the Logan Area or to contact the local avalanche forecaster call me, Toby, at 435-757-7578. 

I'll regularly update this advisory on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday mornings by about 7:30.   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.