Avalanche forecast

Logan

Utah Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

  • Alpine
  • Treeline
  • Below treeline
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Out of date — this forecast expired 5 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

The new year begins with very dangerous avalanche conditions on upper elevation slopes facing northwest through east where the avalanche danger is HIGH. Avalanches will break on a persistent weak layer at the ground 5 feet deep or more. Mid elevation slopes facing northwest through east also have dangerous conditions and the danger is CONSIDERABLE. All other terrain has a MODERATE avalanche danger.

With beautiful sunny skies and so much fresh powder, today is ripe for accidents. Please don't let all the beautiful powder lure you into forgetting about the dangers lurking beneath. Stay far away from north-facing terrain where avalanches are likely.

There is plenty of great powder everywhere and many terrain options to ride. Now is the time to ride in the sunshine on south-facing slopes. Better yet, ride slopes less than 30 degrees in steepness with nothing steeper above.

Avalanche problems

  • Persistent Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Very Likely
    Size
    3

    I would not go anywhere near mid and upper elevation northerly facing slopes. These slopes have a persistent weak layer of weak, sugary facets 6-12 inches above the ground that will fracture and produce slab avalanches 3-5 feet deep and hundreds of feet across. These avalanches may even be triggered from flat terrain under these steeper slopes.

    It's a very different situation on south facing slopes where this persistent weak layer near the ground doesn't exist.

    Richie sent in this short video of a compression test with eye opening results in the Beaver Mountain Backcountry.

    The photo below is a close up of what the faceted snow looks like. Notice the striations or straight lines that form when the snow crystals change into a weak faceted crystal.

  • Storm Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    2

    New snow alone can produce soft slab and loose snow avalanches. With so much new snow, there is always a chance that avalanches can break in upper layers of new snow, however, these types of instabilities usually stabilize in 24-48 hours after snowfall ends. Today, I expect most of the new snow is well bonded to itself.

    • Pay attention to how the new snow reacts under you skis or track on small slopes.
    • Look for shooting cracks which are a sign of instability.
    • Walk or ride above someone else's tracks to see if the new snow slides into their tracks.
    • As always, only expose one person at a time so that if an avalanche happens, only one person is caught.

Avalanche Warning

AN AVALANCHE WARNING CONTINUES FOR THE MOUNTAINS OF MUCH OF THE STATE OF UTAH, INCLUDING THE WASATCH RANGE...BEAR RIVER RANGE...UINTA MOUNTAINS...AND THE MANTI-SKYLINE... ...THE FISH LAKE REGION…PAHVANTS…TUSHARS…AND THE CEDAR CITY AREA MOUNTAINS.

THE AVALANCHE DANGER IS HIGH FOR THE WARNING AREA AND TRAVEL IN AVALANCHE TERRAIN IS NOT RECOMMENDED.

HEAVY SNOWFALL AND STRONG WINDS HAVE CREATED VERY DANGEROUS AVALANCHE CONDITIONS. BEING CAUGHT IN ANY AVALANCHE IS LIKELY TO BE UNSURVIVABLE. STAY OFF OF AND OUT FROM UNDER SLOPES STEEPER THAN 30 DEGREES.

Recent Activity

There were several natural avalanches that happened on Providence Peak earlier this week like the one below.

Amy found some recent natural activity on the Logan Temple grounds yesterday. We should start paying attention to the snow at lower elevations after the recent very cold temperatures....

Check HERE for all the latest observations and avalanche activity.

Snow and Weather

Yesterday a few inches of very light snow fell following about a foot of snow from the day before.

This morning, temperatures have plummeted to about -5 degrees F in most mountain locations. Fortunately, winds from the northwest have eased and are only blowing 5-10 mph in many places; however, they are averaging 20 mph on top of Logan Peak.

Today the Utes will trounce Ohio State at the Rose Bowl, and lingering clouds will give way to sunny skies which will be a welcome sight. Cold air over the area will only allow temperatures to rise to about +5 degrees F. Winds from the northwest may pick up some this afternoon and blow 10-20 mph.

Looking ahead, sunshine stays with us Sunday and Monday. Temperatures will be about 10 degrees warmer Sunday. Snowy weather returns Tuesday afternoon and through the rest of the week.

A note about recent snowfall - Storms since Christmas Eve have delivered feet of snow, and the snowpack is generally about 5 feet deep now. The most important number is how much water this new snow contains which at Tony Grove is 7.6 inches of snow water equivalent. This tells us how much weight was added to the snowpack. For a slope the size of a football field, 7.6 inches of water is over 2.5 million pounds. Not only is that a lot of weight which is a lot of stress on buried weak layers, but imagine that much snow crashing down the mountainside in an avalanche...pretty scary. The good news is that this much water and snow will heal these weak layers very soon.

Additional Info

  • Always follow safe backcountry travel protocols. Go one person at a time in avalanche terrain, while the rest of your party watches from a safe area.
  • Check your avalanche rescue equipment, change your batteries, and practice often with your backcountry partners

General Announcements

Who's up for some free avalanche training? Get a refresher, become better prepared for an upcoming avalanche class, or just boost your skills. Go to https://learn.kbyg.org/ and scroll down to Step 2 for a series of interactive online avalanche courses produced by the UAC.

  • Check out all the upcoming education classes and clinics HERE.
  • Please submit your observations from the backcountry HERE.

This information does not apply to developed ski areas or highways where avalanche control is normally done. This forecast is from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This forecast describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.

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