Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Logan Area Mountains Issued by Toby Weed for Wednesday - March 15, 2017 - 6:48am
bottom line

Warmth and sun will create heightened wet avalanche conditions in the backcountry. Loose wet, large cornice-fall, deep slab, wet slab, and glide avalanches are all possible and most likely during the heat of the day. Natural avalanches are possible. Evaluate snow and terrain carefully. Stay off of and out from under large cornices, glide cracks, and steep slopes with warmth-softened saturated snow.




special announcement

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.

current conditions

Temperatures stayed well above freezing last night across the zone, but clear skies allowed for a superficial surface refreeze. The Tony Grove Snotel ​at 8400' reports 40 F and 112" of total snow, with 165% of average SWE (Snow Water Equivalent)​. It's 40 F and a 18 mph southwest wind at the 9700' CSI Logan Peak weather station. Rising temperatures and sun will quickly soften the snow surface, and heightened wet avalanche conditions will develop early in sunny terrain.
recent activity

A large deep slab avalanche was observed Saturday near White Pine Lake. The scary 4-foot deep and 175' wide avalanche occurred Friday night or Saturday morning and was probably triggered by natural cornice fall from the cliffs above, but there were snowbike and sled tracks in the area. See report here

There was a good deal of recent natural loose wet avalanche activity in the Logan Zone in sunny terrain.

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
  • Warm temperatures and sun will create heightened wet avalanche conditions earlier today as surface snow softens on steep slopes. Triggered loose wet avalanches are possible during the heat of the day.
  • Watch for signs of wet instability like roller balls, pin-wheels and natural sluffs under trees or rock outcroppings.
  • Avoid being on or under steep slopes during warm weather if wet snow is unsupportable.

Wet loose avalanches in Pine Canyon in the Wellsville Mountain Wilderness.
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

Deep slab avalanches are possible as previously drifted upper and mid elevation slopes are warmed and existing hard slabs soften in the heat. A couple isolated hard slab avalanches failing on weak surface snow and running on a rock-hard rain-crust formed in mid-February have occurred in the last couple weeks on upper elevation east facing slopes.

Isolated hard slab avalanches failing on weak snow above solid 2/10 rain-crust, 3/11 White Pine Lake and 3/3 Hidden Lake, both on east facing slopes above 8500'. Runnels formed by February rain are visible in the bed surfaces...

Glide and wet slab avalanches avalanches are possible in steep terrain and can occur anytime of day during this unseasonably warm weather.

Avoid being under glide cracks like these on Wilderness Peak. In warm weather, you never know when a glide avalanche might occur.
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
  • Warm temperatures will cause cornices to buckle and calve naturally. Large cornice falls are most likely during the heat of the day, but possible anytime.
  • Huge, overhanging cornices can break further back than expected and trigger avalanches on slopes below.
weather

High pressure aloft will exit Utah later today, followed by a couple of weak weather disturbances impacting far northern Utah and southwest Wyoming late tonight through Thursday. High pressure aloft will return for Friday and Saturday. It'll be sunny today with a high temperature at 8500' of 52 F and 11 mph west wind. Clouds will increase tonight and there is a slight chance of rain and snow showers. West winds will increase to 22 mph after midnight, with a low temperature of 37 F. There is a chance of snow showers tomorrow and it'll be cloudy, a high temperature of 48 F, and 15 to 22 mph west wind.
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.

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.