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Out of date — this forecast expired 6 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Rapid warming and strong April sun today will cause heightened avalanche conditions and MODERATE danger of loose wet avalanches on all upper and mid elevation slopes. Dangerous wet avalanche conditions may develop in the heat of the day on some very steep sunny slopes. People are likely to trigger wet loose avalanches and some natural activity is possible.

  • Evaluate snow and terrain carefully, and continue to practice safe travel protocols to minimize your risk during the current health crisis.

Avalanche problems

  • Loose Wet

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Likely
    Size
    2

    Rapidly rising temperatures and strong, high angled sun will cause increasing danger of loose wet avalanches involving storm snow on steep sunny and lower elevation slopes. Natural wet avalanches will become increasingly possible in very steep terrain as temperatures warm during the day, so people should stay off and out from under steep slopes with melt saturated new snow.

    • Rapidly warming temperatures, roller balls, pin wheels, and other natural or triggered loose wet avalanches are all red flags indicating wet avalanche potential.
    • If the snow you are riding in gets sticky and slushy or wet, it's time to move to someplace cooler or off and out from under steep hills.
    • Stay off and out from under large ridge top cornices, which could break much further back than expected and could trigger avalanches on slopes below.

Special Announcement

The Avalanche Research Program at Simon Fraser University is conducting an online survey to examine how people use avalanche safety information. They want to hear from all backcountry users to understand how they process information provided in public avalanche forecasts. Anyone who completes the survey before May 15th will be entered to win cash prizes. Uncertainty, Risk, & Decision Making: before, during, and after COVID-19 - Read this thought-provoking blog post about how we take risks by guest author Tom Diegel.

Recent Activity

We triggered some small loose avalanches of moist new snow in steep north facing terrain and noticed a few fresh natural wet loose avalanches on very steep sunny slopes in the White Pine Canyon area yesterday afternoon.

Observers report triggering a few 12" to 16" deep soft slab avalanches of wind drifted snow Thursday on steep upper elevation slopes facing north, northeast, and east. The soft avalanches on very steep slopes were expected, slow moving, and manageable, and nobody got caught.

An unintentionally triggered soft wind slab in Rock Bowl, on an east facing slope at about 9200'. The 15" deep, 200+' wide avalanche was fairly slow moving and allowed the rider to escape.

Snow and Weather

About a foot-and-a-half of new snow fell at upper elevations in the Bear River Range Wednsesday and Thursday, with 2" SWE recorded at the 8400' Tony Grove Snotel. It's 27°F and there is 94 inches of total snow at the site with 126% of normal Snow Water Equivalent. It's 23°F at the 9700' CSI Logan Peak weather station, and southwest winds are currently blowing around 22 mph.

Rapidly warming daytime temperatures and intense high angled sun will cause increasing danger of loose wet avalanches in steep sunny terrain. Heightened avalanche conditions may become dangerous on very steep slopes, and some natural wet activity is possible. Avalanches are unlikely on lower elevation slopes since only a few inches of new snow accumulated, and the remaining underlying old snow is solidly refrozen.

Expect fair and sunny weather in the mountains again today with fairly light west winds. Another weather disturbance will affect northern and central Utah tomorrow before yet another storm tracks across Arizona and southern Utah on Tuesday. Temperatures near seasonal averages are expected through the early part of the week.

It will be clear and sunny in the mountains again today, with 8500' high temperatures around 43°F, and westerly winds will blow 5 to 13 mph. It will be partly cloudy tonight, with a low around 26°F and 7 to 10 mph west wind. Snow showers are likely tomorrow afternoon, and some thunder is also possible. Skies will be mostly cloudy, with high temperatures around 44°F and 10 mph west wind.

Additional Info

Information on outdoor recreation - The State of Utah created this webpage with information about recreating on both state and federal public lands during the current health crisis.

Skiing and riding at closed ski resorts - Some resorts allow access now, and some do not. Please check HERE for the latest info on ski area access.

New to the backcountry (including riding at closed resorts) - Watch the award-winning, 15 minute Know Before You Go video, or take the 5-part, free online-learning series.

General Announcements

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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....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.

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

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