Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Logan Area Mountains Issued by Toby Weed for Monday - February 2, 2015 - 6:56am
bottom line

The snow is stable on most slopes and the overall danger is LOW in the backcountry.​ Pockets with heightened avalanche conditions and a MODERATE (level 2) danger exist on drifted upper elevation slopes, where triggered wind slab avalanches are possible. Accumulating snow and strong west winds will cause a rising avalanche danger overnight and tomorrow.

  • Avoid ridge-top cornices, which might break further back than you expect and could trigger wind slab avalanches on slopes below.
  • Evaluate the snow and terrain carefully in wind exposed areas at upper elevations, and avoid drifted slopes.

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special announcement

Sign up now for Avalanche Awareness for Snowmobilers with the UAC in Logan, February 5th evening and a field session on Saturday the 7th.

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

current conditions

Looks like about an inch of new snow overnight at Beaver Mt and it's 25 degrees. Yesterday there was 60 inches of total snow at the 8400' Tony Grove Snotel, containing 100% of average water for the date. The UDOT Hwy 89 Logan Summit weather station reports 30 degrees this morning and strong west winds overnight, with gusts near 40 mph. Expect a wide variety of mostly crusty snow conditions in the backcountry, with nice ride anywhere dust-on-crust above around 7500' and wind damaged snow in exposed upper elevation terrain.

NWS forecast calling for some snow in the northern mountains
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

Pockets of heightened conditions exist in drifted terrain at upper elevations where triggered wind slab avalanches are possible, and strong west winds will continue through the day and tonight. Stiff wind slabs might be rather stubborn, and might allow you to get out on them before releasing. You should be wary around terrain features like cliff bands, sub-ridges, and gullies where wind slabs may have formed, and avoid steep drifted slopes. The danger of wind slab avalanches will increase with accumulation and continued windy conditions tonight and tomorrow.
weather

Snow is likely today, but not much is expected in the way of accumulation. It will be cloudy and windy at upper elevations, with west winds gusting into the 40 mph range and high temperature at 8500' of around 36 degrees. Snow is likely tonight in the mountains, with 4 to 8 inches of accumulation possible, along with continued fairly strong west wind. Snow will continue under a mild moist zonal flow tomorrow and tomorrow night, with 8 to 14 additional inches of accumulation possible at upper elevations.

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.