Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Logan Area Mountains Issued by Toby Weed for Friday - March 11, 2016 - 7:23am
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MODERATE (level 2): Heightened wind slab and cornice fall conditions exist, and you might trigger avalanches today in drifted upper elevation terrain. Exceptionally warm temperatures forecast for the mountains again today, and loose wet avalanches entraining significant piles of fresh snow are possible on steep slopes at all elevations. Evaluate the snow and terrain carefully, and stay off and out from under steep slopes with saturated surface snow.




current conditions

The Tony Grove Snotel at 8400' reports 42 degrees this morning and there's 72 inches of total snow containing 95% of average water for the date. It's 33 degrees at the 9700' CSI Logan Peak weather station with southwest winds currently averaging 25 mph. Around a foot of fresh snow fell Wednesday morning at upper elevations in the central and northern Bear River Range, and yesterday's rapid warm-up quickly turned the nice powder into mashed potatoes even at upper elevations.



A natural loose wet avalanche triggered by cornice fall yesterday, (3-10-16) in Old Logway Canyon in the Wellsville Mt Wilderness.

recent activity
  • A couple different parties of riders in the Franklin Basin Area triggered several good sized but apparently manageable loose wet avalanches entraining the new snow at upper elevations yesterday, and there was certainly a fair amount of natural activity across the zone as well due to the rapid increase in temperatures.
  • A party of riders triggered a fairly large loose wet avalanche in a steep north facing chute in the Tony Grove Area Sunday (3-6-2016). The avalanche flushed all the heavy new snow out of the upper part of the gully and gouged out old snow down to rocks lower down, leaving an impressive pile of debris in the apron.

***To view our updated list of backcountry observations and avalanche activity from around Utah, go to our observations page

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

Heightened cornice fall and wind slab avalanche conditions exist today in drifted upper elevation terrain, and strong and sustained southwest winds may find a bit more soft snow to drift into slabs at upper elevations.

  • Beware large overhanging ridge-top cornices, which could break further back than you expect and might trigger avalanches on drifted slopes below. Natural cornice falls are possible, especially during the heat of the day.
  • You could trigger shallow wind slab avalanches on drifted upper elevation slopes. Avoid recent drifts on the lee sides of ridges, cross-loaded along sub-ridges, and in and around terrain features like rock outcroppings, gullies, scoops, trees, and saddles. Cracking is a sign of potential instability.

Avalanche Problem 2
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 10 hours
description

Loose wet avalanches entraining Wednesday's fresh snow are possible on slopes at all elevations during the heat of the day. Sheltered upper and mid elevation north facing slopes are especially suspect due to the exceptionally warm air temperatures.

weather

A warm southwest flow will continue over the region today. A weak system will cross over the zone tonight and Saturday. A series of cool and moist storms will begin to impact the region on Sunday and continue well into next week. Expect sunny and breezy weather today, with southwest winds averaging in the mid twenties along the ridges and a high temperature at 9000' around 51 degrees! It'll be mostly cloudy tonight with a low around 35 degrees and south southwest winds. It'll be cloudy tomorrow with west southwest winds averaging in the mid teens, high temperatures around 41 degrees and a 40% chance of snow showers.





general announcements

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. 

We'll update this advisory throughout the season 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.