Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Logan Area Mountains Issued by Toby Weed for Saturday - January 13, 2018 - 7:06am
bottom line

Dangerous avalanche conditions exist on upper and mid-elevation slopes in some areas. Large and very dangerous human triggered avalanches are possible.

  • Wind slab avalanches, 2 to 3 feet deep are possible in exposed terrain at upper and mid-elevations.
  • Avalanches in areas with shallow and weak snow could be triggered remotely, from a distance, or below.
  • Evaluate snow and terrain carefully, make conservative decisions, and continue to avoid steep drifted terrain.

    ***I will update this advisory on Monday, 1/15/18, before around 7:30 am
special avalanche bulletin

THE FOREST SERVICE UTAH AVALANCHE CENTER IN SALT LAKE CITY HAS ISSUED A BACKCOUNTRY AVALANCHE SPECIAL BULLETIN.

*TIMING...IN EFFECT FROM 9PM FRIDAY TO 9PM MONDAY

*AFFECTED AREAS...FOR THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTHERN UTAH INCLUDING THE WASATCH RANGE...BEAR RIVER RANGE...UINTA MOUNTAINS.

*AVALANCHE DANGER...THE AVALANCHE DANGER IS CONSIDERABLE WHICH MEANS THAT HUMAN TRIGGERED AVALANCHES REMAIN LIKELY.

*IMPACTS...BEAUTIFUL WEATHER OVER THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND AND RECENT FRESH POWDER SNOW WILL LEAD TO A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN PUBIC USE IN THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTHERN UTAH. SNOWPACK, WEATHER, AND HUMAN CONDITIONS ARE PERFECTLY ALIGNED FOR A POTENTIAL ACCIDENT THIS WEEKEND. MANY SLOPES, ESPECIALLY ONES ABOVE 8000` WITH A NORTHERLY THROUGH EASTERLY ASPECT, ONLY NEED A SKIER OR RIDER TO TRIGGER AN AVALANCHE 2-3 FEET DEEP AND SEVERAL HUNDRED FEET WIDE.

*BACKCOUNTRY TRAVELERS SHOULD CONSULT WWW.UTAHAVALANCHECENTER.ORG OR CALL 1-888-999-4019 FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION.

THIS ADVISORY DOES NOT INCLUDE SKI AREAS OR HIGHWAYS WHERE AVALANCHE CONTROL IS NORMALLY DONE.

current conditions

The Tony Grove Snotel at 8400' reported about 8 inches of new snow yesterday, with 1.1" SWE. Iit's currently 26°F, and there's 54 inches of total snow at the site containing 103% of normal (Snow Water Equivalent). It's 28°F at the UDOT Hwy 89 Summit weather station, with 15 mph northwest wind. Dangerous avalanche conditions exist in some areas, and large human triggered avalanches are likely this weekend.

  • The Providence Canyon road is blue water ice and is currently impassible for automobiles and sleds.
  • The Tony Grove Road is not maintained for wheeled travel in the winter.
  • Shallow snow conditions exist, and we've seen numerous badly damaged sleds recently. The new snow will hide rocks and down trees.
  • Travel cautiously and keep your speed down. ​​

I found better than expected stability in the Tony Grove Area on Friday, with lots of new heavily rimed snow and grauple filling in terrain. Large cornices formed on the ridges in the Central Bear River Range, with the windy storm.

recent activity

The backcountry was very active in the Wasatch Range in the past couple days, with numerous large triggered avalanches reported, many remote triggered from a distance.

No avalanches were reported locally, but I could see evidence of some natural activity on the east side of the Wellsville Range.
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

Dangerous wind slab avalanche conditions exist, and 2 to 3-foot-deep human triggered avalanches are possible in exposed upper and mid-elevation terrain today.

  • Watch for and avoid stiffer drifted snow on the lee side of major ridges and in and around terrain features like sub-ridges, cliff bands, gullies, and scoops.
  • A ride in even a small avalanche could be particularly dangerous due shallow snow and the potential for being dragged through rocks 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

Dangerous persistent slab avalanches are possible on slopes with poor snow structure, which exist in many areas. Pay attention to possible signs of instability like cracking and whumpfing or collapsing, but remember these red flagged signs of instability aren't always present when avalanches are triggered.

  • In some areas persistent slab avalanches could be triggered remotely, from a distance, or below.
  • Dangerous persistent slab avalanche conditions are likely to persist in areas with shallow overall snow cover.
weather

A strong ridge of high pressure will build in across the region this weekend through early next week. An active weather pattern will develop starting mid week.

  • Today: Partly sunny, with a high near 31. Northwest wind around 9 mph.
  • Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 24. North northwest wind 7 to 9 mph.
  • Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 35. North northwest wind 6 to 8 mph.
general announcements

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. All proceeds go towards paying for avalanche forecasting and education!

We're excited to introduce for the 2017/2018 winter the Utah Avalanche Center podcast, hosted by forecaster Drew Hardesty and produced by KUER's Benjamin Bombard. The podcast will include engaging stories, interviews, and lessons learned - all things avalanche to help keep people on top of the snow instead of buried beneath it - and easily found on ITunes, Stitcher, the UAC blog, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Now is a great time to practice companion rescue techniques with your backcountry partners. Here's our rescue practice video.

Go HERE for a list of UAC classes.

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 observations. 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.