Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Logan Area Mountains Issued by Toby Weed for Saturday - April 14, 2018 - 7:04am
bottom line

MODERATE: Heightened avalanche conditions exist, with human triggered wind slab avalanches possible in drifted upper elevation terrain. Loose wet activity will become increasingly likely as the day warms, especially on sunny slopes.

  • Avoid steep slopes with drifted or saturated fresh snow.
  • Stay off and out from under ridge-top cornices.
  • Evaluate snow and terrain carefully.




special announcement

Today is the vintage sled hill-climbing competition/race up at Beaver Mountain, and snow conditions are great. Hope to see you up there.

Lift tickets for Snowbasin remaining. The tickets are discounted almost 50%. Details and order information here. All proceeds from these go towards paying for avalanche forecasting and education!

current conditions

You'll still find nice powder riding and skiing in the backcountry today, especially in sheltered, north facing terrain at upper elevations. But, with well over a foot of new snow, and substantial drifting from strong northwesterly winds in the past couple days, heightened avalanche conditions exist in drifted terrain at upper elevations. Solar and seasonal heating will cause midday potential for loose wet avalanches entraining the new snow.

  • The Tony Grove Snotel at 8400' reports 15 inches of new snow with 1.4" SWE in the last 48 hours, (mostly from Thursday.) It's 24°F, and there is 79" of total snow with 95% of average SWE.
  • The UDOT ​Hwy 89 Logan Summit weather station reports 18°F, and 10 to 20 mph northwest winds, with overnight gusts around 40 mph.

There is still plenty of snow up high, but getting there is an issue. Please do your best to limit resource damage. Stay on roads and avoid riding over bare ground, melted out meadows, and sage brush. It is possible to bring your trailer up the Tony Grove Road to the first overlook where you can park close to the retreating snow. There is still snow at the Beaver Creek and Sinks Winter THs...

recent activity

Riders intentionally triggered a handful of small wind or storm slabs yesterday in the Tony Grove Area. The new snow was not bonding too well to the underlying old snow, especially in drifted terrain and on very steep slopes.

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

Expected stabilization is happening, but heightened avalanche conditions still exist on drifted slopes at upper elevations, and human triggered wind slab avalanches up to 2-feet-deep are possible.

  • Avoid drifted snow on the lee side of major ridges and in and around terrain features like sub-ridges, gullies, scoops, and rock outcrops.
  • Stay off and out from under large overhanging cornices, which might break further back than you expect and could trigger avalanches on steep slopes 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

Seasonal and solar warming will cause heightened wet avalanche conditions in steep terrain. Natural and triggered loose wet avalanches (or sluffs) entraining saturated surface snow are possible and most likely during the heat of the day.

  • Roller balls, pin-wheels and natural sluffs in steep terrain indicate potential for loose wet avalanches.
  • Loose wet avalanches entraining moist fresh snow could become large and unmanageable on long sustained slopes.
  • Avoid being on or under steep slopes with saturated surface snow.

Loose wet avalanches were pretty common last weekend in the Wellsville Mountain Wilderness.

weather

High pressure aloft across the Great Basin will bring a warming trend to Utah this weekend. The next Pacific storm system will impact the region early in the upcoming week.

  • Today: Partly sunny, with a high near 35. Southwest wind 10 to 15 mph.
  • Tonight: A 20 percent chance of snow before midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 27. West southwest wind 6 to 11 mph becoming southeast after midnight.
  • Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 44. Southeast wind 6 to 14 mph becoming southwest in the morning.
general announcements

Episode 7 of the UAC Podcast "Mastery and False Mastery - An Interview with 'Big' Don Sharaf" is live. With a snow career spanning over 30 years, Don has enough mileage in the mountains to have learned a thing or two, including the profound value of humility when staring into the face of the dragon. Listen in on our conversation about the idea of mastery and if such a thing can exist in the avalanche world. Check it out on ​the UAC blog, ITunes, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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.

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 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.