Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Logan Area Mountains Issued by Toby Weed for Tuesday - March 7, 2017 - 6:57am
bottom line

There's a CONSIDERABLE danger on drifted slopes in the backcountry. Dangerous conditions exist, triggered wind slab and cornice fall avalanches are likely and naturals possible. Continuing drifting from strong west-southwest winds today could cause a HIGH danger in exposed terrain at upper elevations. Carefully evaluate snow and terrain, make conservative choices, and stay off of and out from under drifted slopes and large cornices.




current conditions

The Tony Grove Snotel ​at 8400' reports 16 F and almost two feet of snow with 2.4" SWE (Snow Water Equivalent)​ in the last 48 hrs. There's 133" of total snow at the site with 172% of average SWE. It's 9 F at the 9700' CSI Logan Peak weather station, and west wind is blowing 16 mph, gusting to 49 mph. The UDOT Hwy 89 Logan Summit reports 25 to 35 mph west-northwest winds overnight, with 54 mph gusts. Dangerous avalanche conditions exist on drifted upper and mid elevation slopes, and moderate to strong winds today will create larger and harder drifts and the danger of wind slab and cornice fall avalanches may increase and become more widespread.
recent activity
  • A rider triggered a good sized wind slab avalanche while side-hilling Friday afternoon just north of the ID/UT state line near Gibson Basin.
  • A large cornice fall avalanche occurred in upper Providence Canyon over the weekend. Here's a Facebook video showing the aftermath.... HERE

Rider triggered avalanche near Hidden Lake, Gibson Basin, ID (3/3/17)
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

Strong westerly winds overnight formed fresh wind slabs and enlarged already huge ridge-top cornices.

  • Avoid wind slabs on the lee side of ridges and in and around terrain features like gullies, scoops, sub-ridges, and cliff-bands.
  • Huge, overhanging cornices can break further back than expected and trigger avalanches on slopes below.
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

Triggered soft slab and loose avalanches involving the fresh snow are possible on slopes steeper than about 30 degrees, even in sheltered terrain.
weather

An increasingly mild westerly flow aloft will prevail across the region through the remainder of the week. Today, 1 to 3 inches of snow is possible this morning and it will be cloudy with a high temperature at 8500' of 26 F and 25 mph west wind, gusting to 40 mph. Tonight will be cloudy and snow showers are likely, with 1 to 3 inches possible, 23 mph west-southwest wind, and temperatures will rise to 34 F by morning. There's a good chance for snow showers tomorrow, it'll be mostly cloudy, 17 mph west wind, with a high temperature of 39 F falling to 32 F in the afternoon.





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.