Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Logan Area Mountains Issued by Toby Weed for Wednesday - February 25, 2015 - 6:46am
bottom line

You'll find nice and stable dust-on-crust riding conditions and LOW avalanche danger in most areas, but recent winds created pockets of heightened avalanche conditions at upper elevations and there are areas with a MODERATE (Level 2) danger in drifted terrain.

  • Use normal caution, but evaluate the snow and terrain carefully, especially in wind exposed areas at upper elevations.
  • Avoid stiffer wind-deposited snow and obvious drifts on slopes steeper than about 30 degrees.




special announcement

****Special thanks to Buttar's of Tremonton and ArcticCat for hooking us up with the light and powerful M8000, which is featured in UAC Logan's Practicing Companion Rescue video........HERE

current conditions

The Tony Grove Snotel reports 68 inches of total snow containing 97% of average water for the date, and it's 26 degrees at 8400'. The UDOT Hwy 89 Logan Summit weather station reports 28 degrees, and west winds gusting into the mid-thirties overnight, but diminishing this morning. You'll find nice dust-on-crust riding conditions, with a bit of softer snow beneath last weekend's powder on high north facing slopes and smooth spring-like snow in sunny terrain.


Nice dust-on-crust conditions on White Pine Knob, 2-23-2015


***Video Observation; Graupel Pools in Steep Hollow on 2-20-2015.......HERE

recent activity

No avalanches were reported locally since the first week of February, but I noticed some small natural wet sluffs near Tony Grove Lake from over the weekend.

A small natural loose wet avalanche from the weekend near Tony Grove Lake.


***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

Triggered wind slab avalanches a foot or two deep are possible in drifted upper elevation terrain. Avoid stiffer, wind deposited snow on the lee side of ridges, in and around terrain features like gullies and cliff bands, and areas where snow is vertically cross-loaded near sub-ridges, roll-overs, or scoops lower on the slope. Be cautious around freshly built-out cornices on ridge-lines, which could break further back than you expect and might trigger wind slab avalanches on drifted slopes below.

weather

It'll be mostly sunny, but windy in the mountains again today, with 8500' high temperatures around 30 degrees, sustained northwest wind and a chance for some snow in the afternoon. Expect increasing clouds tonight, with a low temperature around 15 degrees and gradually diminishing northwest wind. It'll be mostly cloudy tomorrow, with moderate north winds, a high around 27 degrees, and a 50% chance of 1 to 3 inches of snow. The weather pattern looks active, heading into the weekend, but most of the energy looks to be heading south.... Better potential exists for significant snow in our neck of the woods early next week.

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

general announcements

***Advisories by email for the Logan Zone.  Go here for details.

*** 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!


***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.