Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Logan Area Mountains Issued by Toby Weed for Thursday - March 2, 2017 - 6:08am
bottom line

Backcountry snow is generally stable, but heightened conditions exist on drifted upper elevation slopes. Triggered wind slab and cornice fall avalanches are possible. Solar heating will cause a rising danger of loose wet avalanches entraining moist surface snow. Evaluate snow and terrain carefully, avoid travel on or under large cornices and steep sunny slopes in the heat of the day.




current conditions

We are finding deep and generally stable snow on most slopes, but drifting from Tuesday's westerly winds created heightened cornice fall and wind slab conditions in exposed upper elevation terrain. The Tony Grove Snotel ​at 8400' reports 125"of total snow with 166% of average SWE (Snow Water Equivalent)​. It's 10 F at the 9700' CSI Logan Peak weather station, and the wind is blowing 9 mph from the west.

Mt. Gog from White Pine Knob (2/26/17)
recent activity

No new large avalanches have been reported or observed, but there was some natural wind slab, cornice fall, and loose activity during the storm Monday and Tuesday.
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

Avoid wind slabs on the lee side of ridges and in and around terrain features like gullies, scoops, sub-ridges, and cliff-bands.
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

Huge, overhanging cornices can break further back than expected and trigger avalanches on slopes below. Solar warming and rising temperatures may cause some cornices to naturally buckle and calve.
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

Clearing skies and warming temperatures will create heightened wet avalanche conditions on sunny slopes. Loose wet avalanches entraining significant piles of moist fresh snow are possible with midday solar warming. If you start to see roller balls, pin wheels, or natural sluffs, it's time to leave. Avoid being under steep slopes with saturated surface snow.
weather

An increasingly dry and warmer westerly flow aloft will set up for the latter half of the week. Precipitation could return to region late in the weekend with the arrival of a cold front.

Weather Forecast: Tony Grove Lake (41.897,-111.6535), Elevation: 8800'
Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 32. West wind 14 to 16 mph.
Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 22. West southwest wind 9 to 14 mph.
Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 39. West southwest wind 11 to 14 mph.







general announcements

Do you buy groceries at Smiths? When you register your Smith’s rewards card with their Community Rewards program, they will donate to the Utah Avalanche Center whenever you make a purchase. It's easy, only takes a minute, and doesn't cost you anything. Details here.

Discount lift tickets for Beaver Mountain, Snowbasin, Powder Mountain, and the Central Wasatch resorts are donated by the resorts to benefit the Utah Avalanche Center. Details and order information here.

If you sign up for AmazonSmile and designate the Utah Avalanche Center as your favorite charity, they will donate a portion of everything you spend to the UAC. It doesn't cost you a penny and we'd really appreciate the help.

Your information can save lives. If you see anything we should know please help us out by submitting snow and avalanche observations. You can call us at 801-524-5304, email by clicking HERE, or include @utavy in your Instagram. In the Logan Area you can reach me at 435-757-7578

We will update this advisory regularly on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday mornings by about 7:30.

This advisory is from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always exist.