Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Logan Area Mountains Issued by Toby Weed for Wednesday - November 22, 2017 - 6:42am
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MODERATE: Heightened avalanche conditions exist, and triggered loose wet avalanches are possible on slopes with saturated surface snow. Evaluate snow and terrain carefully, and avoid travel in steep terrain where warm surface snow is soft and slushy.




special avalanche bulletin

Please join us for our 14 annual "Pray for Snow" fundraiser/party, Thursday, December 7 at 6 PM. This year's new location is at the new Cache Venue, 119 South Main St in downtown Logan. Go HERE for advance tickets and more information.
current conditions

The Tony Grove Snotel at 8400' reports 40°F this morning and 22" of total snow containing 152% of average SWE (Snow Water Equivalent). Rain Monday night and warm temperatures saturated the surface snow and turned the nice powder from the weekend into slush. Snow coverage is good for this time of year in the central and northern parts of the zone, and the wet snow should set up solidly when temperatures cool down.

Shallow, early season snow conditions exist, and hitting rocks or down and dead wood presents a significant hazard. Travel cautiously and keep your speed down. The Tony Grove Road is not maintained for wheeled travel in the winter, so if you venture up, have all the needed gear, be patient and be ready to dig.

Good coverage in the Central Bear River Range, but rain and warmth destroyed all the nice powder.
recent activity

Evidence of a small wind slab avalanche was visible on Sunday in East Miller Bowl south of Tony Grove Lake. I think this was a natural from during Friday's storm, but there were some ski and board tracks nearby.


Small wind slab avalanche in East Miller Bowl, 11/19/17
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

The surface snow was super saturated yesterday and temperatures stayed well above freezing overnight, with 40°F readings this morning at the Tony Grove Snotel and UDOT Hwy 89 summit. Daytime high temperatures are forecast to push 50°F today and again on Thanksgiving Day, and surface snow conditions are likely to remain soft, saturated, and prone to wet avalanches. A ride in even a small avalanche could be particularly dangerous due to potential for being raked through rocks or deadfall below. As soon as we get a good freeze, the snow will crust over and the danger will diminish.

weather

High pressure will continue to strengthen across the region today, then remain in place through the rest of the week. We should see some sun in the mountains today, with a high temperature at 8500' around 46°F and 15 mph south wind, veering from the west during the day. Expect partly cloudy skies overnight with low temperatures around 36°F and moderate winds from the southeast. It'll be mostly sunny on Thanksgiving Day with a southerly breeze and a high temperature around 49°F !

general announcements

We are offering a Backcountry 101 Avalanche Class on December 12 and 14 in the Logan Area Backcountry.

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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!

Benefit the Utah Avalanche Center when you buy or sell on ebay - set the Utah Avalanche Center as a favorite non-profit in your ebay account here and click on ebay gives when you buy or sell. You can choose to have your seller fees donated to the UAC, which doesn't cost you a penny.

Remember your information can save lives. If you see anything we should know about, please help us out by submitting snow and avalanche conditions. You can also call us at 801-524-5304, email by clicking HERE, or include #utavy in your tweet or Instagram.

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 occur.