Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Logan Area Mountains Issued by Toby Weed for Monday - January 15, 2018 - 7:09am
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Heightened avalanche conditions exist in the Central Bear River Range and the danger is MODERATE. More dangerous avalanche conditions and a CONSIDERABLE danger persist in areas with shallow overall snow cover like the Logan Peak Area, Providence Canyon and the Wellsville Range. Large and dangerous human triggered avalanches are possible.

  • Persistent 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 Wednesday, 1/17/18, before around 7:30 am
current conditions

The Tony Grove Snotel at 8400' reports 31°F, and there's 53 inches of total snow at the site containing 99% of normal SWE (Snow Water Equivalent). It's 13°F at the UDOT Hwy 89 Summit weather station, with light northeast wind. We found pretty good stability in the Tony Grove Area yesterday, but dangerous avalanche conditions exist in some areas where the snow is generally shallow, and large human triggered avalanches are possible.

  • 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. Do not try to drive up, you won't get far.
  • It's stating to fill in up high, but shallow snow conditions exist in many areas, and we've seen numerous badly damaged sleds recently.
  • The new snow is hiding rocks and down trees. Travel cautiously and keep your speed down. ​​

I looked at a sled triggered avalanche and close call from 1/13/18 in the Tony Grove Area. A rather isolated event on very steep hill, NE @9100', 1' to 3' deep x 70' running on sugary facets just above Thanksgiving Crust. A small avalanche in big terrain. Looks like rider was caught and carried (or fell), but ended up on the surface with sled on the flank.

recent activity

A couple more large avalanches were unintentionally triggered yesterday in the Wasatch Range above Salt Lake City, and dangerous avalanche conditions persist in the backcountry.

Besides the close call near Naomi Peak, no other avalanches were reported in the Logan Zone, but on Saturday, 1/13/18, I could see evidence of some sizable 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

Although slopes are gradually stabilizing and persistent slab avalanches are becoming harder to trigger, the consequences remain the same. 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.
  • 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.
weather

High pressure over the Great Basin will start to weaken today. A weak system will cross the area late Tuesday through early Wednesday. A strong cold front will cross Utah Friday with a cold upper trof remaining over the area Saturday.

  • M.L.King Day: Mostly sunny, with a high near 34. East northeast wind around 8 mph.
  • Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 20. East wind 7 to 15 mph.
  • Tuesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 35. North northeast wind 6 to 11 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon.
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.