Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Logan Area Mountains Issued by Toby Weed for Thursday - February 15, 2018 - 7:26am
bottom line

Drifting will cause the danger of wind slab avalanches to rise throughout the day, and heightened avalanche conditions will develop on steep upper elevation slopes.

  • Human triggered wind slab avalanches around a foot deep are possible.
  • Evaluate snow and terrain carefully.
current conditions

A powder day at last! Remote weather stations report a fairly even blanket of 3 to 5 inches of fresh powder across the zone. While not enough to increase the avalanche danger very much, the much needed new snow will significantly improve access and riding conditions in the backcountry.

  • The Tony Grove Snotel at 8400' reports five inches of new snow and .4" SWE (or Snow Water Equivalent). It's 19°F, and there's 59 inches of total snow, with 83% of normal SWE.
  • I'm reading 18°F at the UDOT Hwy 89 Logan Summit sheds, and a northwest wind is blowing 10 to 15 mph.
recent activity

No recent avalanches have been reported.

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

Westerly winds will find plenty of nice light snow to drift today, and will create drifts in lee slope deposition areas at upper elevations.

  • Wind slabs are made up of stiffer, drifted snow. They can appear chalky and rounded and can make hollow drum-like sounds.
  • Cracking in the snow is a red flag.
  • Wind slab avalanches are possible on corniced slopes, and cornices often break further back than expected.
  • Avoid drifted snow in and around terrain features like sub-ridges, cliff bands, scoops, and gullies.
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

Continue to practice safe travel protocols by exposing only one person at a time when moving through avalanche terrain. Widespread buried faceted layers appear dormant for now, but if you trigger an avalanche running on old snow it could be dangerous. Continue to avoid very steep rocky slopes with shallow snow and poor snow structure.

weather

Expect colder temperatures and occasional snow today as the trough moves through Utah. Mild weather is expected as we head into the weekend, with the next cold and potentially quite productive weather system moving over the region on Sunday.

  • Today: Snow showers likely before 11am, then snow likely after 11am. Some thunder is also possible. Cloudy, with a high near 18. Wind chill values as low as -5. West northwest wind 17 to 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.
  • Tonight: A 20 percent chance of snow before 11pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around 8. Wind chill values as low as -8. Northwest wind 8 to 13 mph becoming southwest after midnight.
  • Friday: A 20 percent chance of snow after 11am. Partly sunny, with a high near 22. Wind chill values as low as -6. West southwest wind 10 to 15 mph increasing to 16 to 21 mph in the morning.
general announcements

The latest UAC podcast - "Recreating Like a Pro - A Conversation with IFMGA guide Anna Keeling" is live. This podcast will be ideal for anyone looking to pick up some tips and tricks from a professional mountain guide for recreating in the winter backcountry environment.​

We have discount lift tickets for Alta, Snowbird, Brighton, Solitude, Snowbasin,and Beaver Mountain. Details and order information here. All proceeds from your purchase 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.

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.

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 Check it out 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.

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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.