Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Logan Area Mountains Issued by Toby Weed for Friday - December 15, 2017 - 6:13am
bottom line

Snow in the backcountry is stable and the avalanche danger is Low.

  • Avalanches are unlikely, but possible in extreme terrain.
  • Use normal caution.



special announcement

Don’t know what to buy your favorite skier for Christmas? Discount lift tickets for Alta, Snowbird, Brighton, Solitude, Deer Valley, Snowbasin,and Beaver Mountain are now available, donated by the resorts to benefit the Utah Avalanche Center. Details and order information here. These make a great holiday gift and all proceeds go towards paying for avalanche forecasting and education!

Now is a great time to sign up for an avalanche class. Go HERE for a list of UAC classes.

current conditions

The Tony Grove Snotel at 8400' reports 28°F and 27" of total snow containing 92% of average SWE (Snow Water Equivalent). It's 22°F at the 9700' CSI Logan Peak weather station, with west wind currently blowing around 25 mph. Snow surface conditions are quite variable, with wind damage up high and a crust on sunny slopes.

  • There is more total snow and better coverage in the central and northern Bear River Range and at upper elevations.
  • Shallow early season snow conditions exist, and hitting rocks or stumps is a significant hazard. Travel cautiously and keep your speed down.
  • The Tony Grove Road is not maintained for wheeled travel in the winter.

Weak surface snow develops during periods of high pressure. Feathery surface hoar is actually frost growing on the snow surface (12-14-17).


recent activity

No new avalanches were reported in the past week. A natural avalanche cycle occurred at upper elevations during the intense storm on 12/3/17.

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

The air is clean in the mountains, temperatures are warm, backcountry snow is mostly stable, and travel is fairly easy on supportable snow. The avalanche danger is Low, which means that avalanches are unlikely. Even so, avalanches are still possible, especially in very steep or extreme terrain.

  • Wind slab avalanches are possible on some drifted upper elevation slopes. Avoid drifts in steep terrain near ridges and in and around terrain features like gullies, saddles, rock bands, scoops, and sub-ridges.
  • A ride in even a small avalanche could be particularly dangerous due to the hard underlying snow and potential for being raked through rocks or deadfall below.
weather

High pressure will reside across the area today. A splitting Pacific system will cross the area Saturday. High pressure will build into the area once again Sunday into Tuesday, with another storm expected Wednesday.

  • Today will be sunny, with a high temperature at 8500' around 36°F and 10 to 15 mph west wind.
  • Tonight will be mostly cloudy with a low around 20°F and 15 mph west wind. There is a 30% chance of snow after 11:00 pm, with less than an inch possible.
  • Saturday: Snow. 8500' temperatures will drop to around 19°F by evening, and northwest winds around 11 mph are expected. 1 to 3 inches of snow is possible.
general announcements

With rather meager snow conditions and nice weather in the mountains, now is a great time to practice companion rescue techniques with your backcountry partners.


EMAIL ADVISORY: If you would like to get the daily advisory by email you will need to subscribe here.

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.