Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Logan Area Mountains Issued by Toby Weed for Wednesday - January 28, 2015 - 6:21am
bottom line

There's a MODERATE (level 2) danger and heightened avalanche conditions exist on drifted slopes in the backcountry. You could trigger shallow wind slab avalanches consisting of drifted new snow in some steep upper elevation terrain.

  • Evaluate the snow and terrain carefully, especially in wind exposed areas.
  • Wind slab avalanches should be manageable, but avoid steep drifted slopes with trees or other terrain traps below.
  • Sluffs and small soft storm slab avalanches are possible in steep terrain and will become more likely with more than expected snow today.

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special announcement

The CROWBAR, Logan's own world class ski mountaineering race will be held in an all backcountry venue at Sink Hollow in Logan Canyon, Saturday, January 31. For more information and to register go..... HERE

Sign up now for Avalanche Awareness for Snowmobilers with the UAC in Logan, February 5th and 7th.
current conditions

A few inches of new snow will do wonders for the attitude and will also greatly improve the old and crusty backcountry riding conditions. The UDOT hwy 89 Logan Summit weather station reports 32 degrees this morning and 10 to 20 mph west and northwest winds overnight. The 8400' Tony Grove Snotel says 31 degrees, with 4 inches of new snow overnight, containing 0.4" of water. There's 60 inches of total snow at the site containing 107% of average water for the date.

***Check out our Practicing Companion Rescue video........HERE

recent activity

No new avalanches were reported recently in the Logan Zone. Visit our Backcountry Observations Page for more local information and from across the state.

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

You'll probably encounter fresh wind slabs in drifted terrain. Consisting of only the new snow from overnight, these will be fairly shallow and should be generally manageable. Fresh drifts may be pretty sensitive today in steep terrain. As usual, you should be cautious around terrain features like cliff bands, sub-ridges, and gullies where wind slabs may have formed, and avoid committing to steep drifted slopes with trees or other terrain traps below you. Other manageable storm snow related avalanche problems are possible in steep terrain today, especially if we get more accumulation than the inch or two expected.

weather

Snow showers are likely to continue this morning, with another inch or two of accumulation possible. High temperatures should reach 34 degrees at 8500', with diminishing west-southwest wind. It'll be mostly cloudy tonight, with low temperatures around 26 degrees, a chance for a few snowflakes, and calm to light east winds. A winter storm will impact southern and central Utah over the weekend, but we don't expect much in the way of snowfall up north.

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

general announcements

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.

RESEARCH PROJECT ON UNDERSTANDING TRAVEL BEHAVIOR IN AVALANCHE TERRAIN NEEDS YOU!!     Scientists from the Snow and Avalanche Lab at Montana State University are seeking more participants for their project examining decision making and travel in avalanche terrain.   Their project aims to collect GPS location information (from your smartphone) and survey responses from backcountry skiers and riders to better understand what types of terrain are used, and how decisions are made. Their focus is on backcountry skiers and riders of all abilities and experience. 

More information: If you want to participate, or learn more about their project aims, research questions and approaches, please visit their web page: www.montana.edu/snowscience/tracks   or their companion site directed toward snowmobilers at: www.montana.edu/snowscience/sleds

 

You can now receive advisories by email for the Logan Zone.  Go here for details.

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

Discount lift tickets are now available at Backcountry.com.  Thanks to Ski Utah and the Utah Resorts.  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.

***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.