Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Logan Area Mountains Issued by Toby Weed for Wednesday - February 4, 2015 - 6:50am
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Dangerous avalanche conditions exist and there's a CONSIDERABLE (level 3) danger at upper elevations in the backcountry today. Triggered storm snow avalanches are likely and natural avalanches possible on slopes steeper than about 30 degrees, especially in drifted terrain above about 8000'.

  • Careful snowpack evaluation, cautious route finding, and conservative decision making are essential at upper elevations today.
  • Avoid ridge-top cornices, which might break further back than you expect and could trigger avalanches on slopes below.
  • Avoid and stay our from under steep drifted slopes at upper elevations.
  • Wet avalanches are possible on steep slopes with saturated new snow, and will become more likely during midday warmth.

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special avalanche bulletin

THIS SPECIAL AVALANCHE ADVISORY IS FOR THE LOGAN AREA MOUNTAINS OF FAR NORTHERN UTAH AND SOUTHEAST IDAHO. HEAVY SNOW AND STRONG WINDS HAVE CREATED DANGEROUS AVALANCHE CONDITIONS. HUMAN TRIGGERED AVALANCHES CAN BE EXPECTED. CONSERVATIVE TERRAIN CHOICES ARE ESSENTIAL FOR ANY MOUNTAIN TRAVEL.    THIS ADVISORY DOES NOT INCLUDE SKI AREAS OR HIGHWAYS WHERE AVALANCHE CONTROL IS NORMALLY DONE.
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

The Tony Grove Snotel reports 10 inches of heavy new snow in the last 24 hours, containing 2.2" of water, with 3.3" in the last 48. There's now 74 inches of total snow containing 117% of average water for the date and it's 30 degrees at the 8400' site. The UDOT Hwy 89 Logan Summit weather station reports 33 degrees this morning and gradually diminishing northwest winds overnight, after sustaining much stronger west winds yesterday. West winds are still strong on Mt. Ogden this morning, averaging in the mid-thirties and gusting into the 50s. Heavy snow and strong winds have created dangerous storm snow avalanche conditions at upper elevations. It's been raining below about 7500', so the new snow at mid-elevations is very wet, and any remaining lower elevation snow is saturated throughout.

A view of upper Smithfield Canyon in the Mt. Naomi Wilderness, 1-29-15

*** New, 2-2-15 Video Observation from South Tony Grove..........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 12 hours
description

The rain/snow line is still fairly high, but heavy snow is stacking up above about 7500'. On Monday, I noticed a poor bond of the new snow and the much warmer melt-freeze crust that was on the snow surface early last week. There appears to be weak snow right on top of the crust (at the interface) in some areas.

  • Triggered storm slab avalanches are likely and natural avalanches are possible on upper elevation slopes today.
  • Dangerous avalanche conditions exist, especially in drifted terrain at upper elevations, and wind slab avalanches 1 to 2 feet deep, consisting of drifted heavy new snow are likely.
  • You should be wary around terrain features like cliff bands, sub-ridges, and gullies where wind slabs may have formed, and avoid and stay out from under steep drifted slopes and obvious or historic avalanche paths at upper elevations.

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

Avoid freshly built-out ridge-top cornices, which might break further back than you expect and could trigger avalanches on steep slopes below.
Avalanche Problem 3
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

It should remain mostly cloudy today, but 8500' temperatures will be well above freezing. The fresh snow is very wet and is likely to want to move on steep slopes when temperatures rise. Wet sluffs and perhaps heat induced soft slabs are possible on steep slopes with saturated fresh snow, especially during the warmth of midday. The sun will come out and mountain temperatures will likely to rise into the mid 40s tomorrow, which will create dangerous wet avalanche conditions on slopes with already saturated new snow.
weather

Snow is likely today, with 2 to 4 inches of additional accumulation possible.. It will be fairly windy at upper elevations, with west-northwest winds gusting into the 30 mph range and high temperature at 8500' of around 37 degrees. Expect temperatures to drop to around 30 degrees overnight with gradually diminishing clouds and west winds. it'll be mostly sunny and warm tomorrow, with moderate west winds and 8500' high temperatures around 45 degrees.

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.