Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Logan Area Mountains Issued by Toby Weed for Wednesday - January 24, 2018 - 7:00am
bottom line

Heightened avalanche conditions exist in the backcountry, and human-triggered avalanches are possible. Drifting from increasing southwest winds today will cause a rising danger of wind slab avalanches. It's still possible to trigger a scary persistent slab avalanche in some areas, on very steep shady slopes and in rocky areas with shallow snow.

  • Evaluate snow and terrain carefully.
  • Avoid travel in drifted terrain and steep rocky areas with shallow snow cover.



special announcement

We are offering a Backcountry 101 Avalanche Awareness class in Logan this Thursday evening and Saturday. If you've ever wanted to learn about avalanche safety or perhaps want to refresh your skills, this is a great opportunity. Details and registration online.

The UAC has new support programs with Outdoor Research and Darn Tough. Support the UAC through your daily shopping. When you shop at Smith's, or online at Outdoor Research, REI, Backcountry.com, Darn Tough, Patagonia, NRS, Amazon, eBay a portion of your purchase will be donated to the FUAC. See our Donate Page for more details on how you can support the UAC when you shop.
current conditions

The Tony Grove Snotel at 8400' reported 2 inches of new snow yesterday morning. It's 26°F, and there's 54 inches of total snow at the site containing 90% of normal SWE (Snow Water Equivalent). It's 18°F at the CSI Logan Peak weather station, but the wind sensor still appears iced. Southwest winds increased overnight on Ogden Peak and are currently blowing around 40 mph. Very nice, fast and smooth shallow powder conditions exist on many slopes, and it's especially nice in sheltered lower angled terrain. We've found many areas with stable snow, but heightened avalanche conditions persist in shallow shady areas with poor snow structure, and increasing southwest wind today will cause drifting and a rising danger of wind slab avalanches in exposed terrain.

Nice view of Bear Lake from Garden City Bowls, 1/23/18

recent activity

One party reported intentionally triggering a small wind slab off the ridge in Hell's Kitchen yesterday. No other avalanches were reported in the Logan Zone recently.
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

Snowpit tests still show propagation and slab failure on buried weak layers made up of sugary, faceted December snow. Dangerous persistent slab avalanches remain possible on very steep slopes with shallow snow and poor snow structure. Yesterday, I triggered collapsing and found suspect shallow and weak snow conditions in the trees on a northwest facing slope.

  • Pay attention to possible signs of instability like cracking and whumpfing or collapsing, but remember these signs aren't always present when avalanches are triggered, so you you have to dig to find poor snow structure.
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

Wind slab avalanches, made up of drifted snow from the weekend storm are possible in exposed upper and mid elevation terrain. Increasing southwest winds today will create fresh wind slabs, which may be sensitive to human triggering.

  • Watch for and avoid fresh drifts on steep lee slopes and in and around terrain features like sub-ridges, gullies, scoops, and rock outcrops.
  • A ride in even a small avalanche could be particularly dangerous in areas with shallow snow, due to the potential for being dragged through rocks.
weather

High pressure will return midweek before a fast moving storm system impacts the area Thursday into Friday morning. High pressure is expected to return for the upcoming weekend.

  • Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 36. Southwest wind 13 to 21 mph.
  • Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 25. Windy, with a south southwest wind 24 to 32 mph, with gusts as high as 46 mph.
  • Thursday: Snow, mainly after noon. Temperature rising to near 31 by 8am, then falling to around 23 during the remainder of the day. Windy, with a southwest wind 23 to 31 mph, with gusts as high as 45 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.
general announcements

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

Episode 3 of the UAC podcast is live. We talk with UDOT Avalanche Program Supervisor Bill Nalli on how he and his teams keep the Greatest Snow on Earth from avalanching over the open roads and highways of the state. Check it out on ITunes, Stitcher, the UAC blog, or wherever you get your podcasts.

We have discount lift tickets for Alta, Snowbird, Brighton, Solitude, Snowbasin,and Beaver Mountain. Details and order information here. All proceeds from these go towards paying for avalanche forecasting and education!

The UAC Marketplace is online. The holiday auction is closed, but our online marketplace still has deals on skis, packs, airbag packs, beacons, snowshoes, soft goods and much more.

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

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

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.