Avalanche forecast

Logan

Utah Avalanche Center
View on map

Avalanche danger

  • Alpine
  • Treeline
  • Below treeline
Open full map
Out of date — this forecast expired 7 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Heightened avalanche conditions and MODERATE danger exist in the backcountry. People could trigger avalanches in drifted upper elevation terrain and on steep slopes with saturated snow. A strong winter storm with heavy snowfall and strong wind starts tonight, and dangerous avalanche conditions are likely to develop on many mountain slopes by tomorrow.

  • Evaluate snow and terrain carefully.

Avalanche problems

  • Loose Wet

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    2

    Increasing clouds and wind will help keep the snow cool today, but this morning's warmth will cause heightened wet avalanche conditions, especially on low and mid elevation shady slopes. Roller balls, pinwheels, and surface sluffs are all signs of increasing wet snow instability. Natural loose wet avalanches may be possible in some very steep shady terrain

    • Avoid travel on and below steep slopes with soft and saturated surface snow.

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    2

    Several inches new snow fell this week on upper elevation slopes, and westerly winds were plenty strong enough to move it around. Southwest winds were cranking overnight, with hourly average wind speeds of around 35 mph and a recent gust of 55 mph at the CSI Logan Peak weather station. This week's drifts and large cornices were sensitive to human triggering, but they will likely be stiffer and more stubborn today. Harder wind slabs sometimes allow people to get out on them before releasing.

    • Watch for and avoid stiffer drifted snow near ridge lines and in and around terrain features like cliff bands, scoops, gully walls, and sub-ridges.

    • Avoid ridge top cornices, which can break much further back than expected and start avalanches on slopes below.

    There were a few large natural cornice falls due to drifting from west winds this week.

Recent Activity

There were several small triggered and natural avalanches of wind drifted snow at upper elevations in the Logan Zone this week, and a few sizable cornice falls. Southwest winds were cranking overnight and today's drifts will likely be stiffer, deeper, and much less manageable.

Small natural loose wet avalanches and roller balls were common by midday yesterday in sunny terrain across the zone, with narrow but long running natural activity reported from the large east facing slopes in the Wellsville Mountain Wilderness.

Snow and Weather

It's a toasty 36°F at the 8400' Tony Grove Snotel this morning, and there is 76 inches of total snow, containing 118% of normal Snow Water Equivalent. Southwest winds were cranking all night on the ridges and are currently blowing around 35 mph, and gusting into the mid 50s at the CSI Logan Peak weather station, and it's 33°F at 9700'.

Several inches of fresh snow fell at upper elevations this week, and shallow powder conditions were really nice, especially in sheltered terrain. Yesterday's warmth turned the nice powder to a mashed potato-like consistency in many areas. Drifting from west and southwest winds has created heightened avalanche conditions in exposed upper elevation terrain, and warmth again today will cause potential for wet avalanches.

Even small roller balls like this one up in Wood Camp yesterday are a sign of wet snow instability.

The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for tonight through early Tuesday morning. A strong and cold storm will impact a widespread area including the Logan Zone tonight through Monday. We'll see increasingly cloudy skies today, with 8500' high temperatures expected around 40°F, with 22 to 28 mph southwest winds, gusting to around 50 mph. Snow is expected to be heavy at times starting late tonight, with temperatures dropping to around 12°F, and 13 to 21 mph winds veering from the north-northwest. Wind chill values will be around -3°F. Snow will continue to be heavy at times tomorrow, and there will be areas of blowing snow with 9 to 17 inches of accumulation possible at upper elevations by evening. Expect steady temperatures around 14°F, and gusty 20 mph north-northwest wind, with wind chills around -6°F. The strong and cold storm is expected to wind down Monday night, but expect much colder weather to remain for a few days, with unsettled winter weather through the week.

Additional Info

Although increasingly unlikely, dangerous human triggered avalanches failing on a deeply buried persistent weak layer remain possible on isolated upper elevation slopes. Some avalanches might step down into buried persistent weak layers, involve large volumes of snow, and be quite dangerous and destructive. Tuesday, we found very poor snow structure on slopes with shallow snow on the west side of the south ridge of Beaver Mountain. Our stability tests showed potential for avalanches failing on sugary faceted snow buried by the New Years storm.

We triggered several shallow avalanches of wind drifted snow and cornice falls in the backcountry on the south ridge of Beaver Mt. earlier in the week.

We noticed a few large fresh roof avalanches off metal barn roofs in the Bear Lake Area last week. Many are still holding lots of heavy snow, and gradual melting is causing them to drip and creep. It could get quite warm today, increasing the possibility of large roof avalanches, so keep and eye on the kids, animals, and vehicles.

General Announcements

Are you looking to improve your avalanche skills? We are offering a Backcountry 101: Introduction to Avalanches class at Powder Mountain February 14-15. Info and sign up HERE

The anual CROWBAR backcountry ski race will be on Saturday, February 8. The unique and classic backcountry race will be held at the Swan Flat/Garden City Trailhead in upper Logan Canyon. There are four divisions (Junior, Recreation, Heavy Metal & Race) with different climbs, descents, and technical booters. Participants must carry avalanche rescue gear (beacon, shovel, probe) and can use alpine touring gear, telemark skis, or splitboards. Register on UltraSignup, or sign up to volunteer at this year's race!

Thanks to the generous support of our Utah ski resorts and Ski Utah, we have discount lift tickets available. All proceeds from these go towards paying for avalanche forecasting and education! Get your tickets HERE.

EMAIL ADVISORY. If you would like to get the daily advisory by email you 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....HERE. You can also call us at 801-524-5304, email by clicking HERE, or include #utavy in your tweet or Instagram.

This forecast is from the USDA Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. The forecast describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.

I will update this forecast before about 7:30 tomorrow morning.

Regions covered