Avalanche forecast

Logan

Utah Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

  • Alpine
  • Treeline
  • Below treeline
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Highlights

Much cooler temperatures and clouds will help matters, but there is still CONSIDERABLE danger on backcountry slopes steeper than 30°. Dangerous avalanche conditions exist, large natural cornice falls and wet avalanches are possible on steep slopes at all elevations. Dangerous avalanche conditions and uncertainty call for conservative planning, cautious decision making, and careful route-finding. My plan is to continue to avoid steep terrain and stay clear of avalanche runouts today.

Avalanche problems

  • Loose Wet

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Very Likely
    Size
    3
    • Cooler temperatures and clouds should slow down the melt and help with stability.
    • Although many sunny lower elevation slopes have burnt off or are very shallow, dangerous wet avalanche conditions still exist on shady forested slopes and in steep northerly facing terrain, where wet loose avalanches can gouge the saturated snow to the ground and fan out broadly.
    • Avalanches from higher up could come down into low elevation terrain that has already melted off.

  • Cornices

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

    People should stay well away from and off of slopes under the HUGE overhanging cornices, which are found on the major peaks and ridges.

    Small fresh drifts and wind slabs may form at upper elevations in the northern part of the zone where several inches of new snow could accumulate.

Special Announcement

The final UAC report for the Upper Weber Canyon avalanche accident on March 9 has been published and is available HERE. The UAC would like to thank Park City Powder Cats for sharing information about the timeline of the accident and allowing UAC staff access to the avalanche after the incident.

Recent Activity

  • Yesterday, ID Hwy 36 was closed due to a mudslide in the Mink Creek area. Also apparently, a couple natural small wet loose avalanches slid a little ways onto the road near Strawberry, west of Emigrant Summit. But the highway is not closed because of avalanches...
  • Widespread natural wet avalanches occurred earlier this week in the Wellsville Range. Large natural cornice falls and loose avalanches triggered long running and dangerously large wet slabs. I was quite relieved to see no cars parked at the Rattlesnake TH Sunday, after seeing the huge debris pile from a massive natural avalanche that came off the north ridge of Mitton Peak....HERE

A recent large natural avalanche triggered by a cornice fall in the Wellsvilles. Rattlesnake Canyon, N Ridge of Mitton Pk, 4-9-23

  • For a list of recent avalanches in the Logan Zone go HERE.
  • There was tons of recent natural wet avalanche activity in the mountains of Northern Utah. Find a list of all recent observations & avalanches from across Utah go HERE.

Snow and Weather

Temperatures stayed above freezing overnight at most stations, preventing a good refreeze of the saturated snow. Cooler temperatures and clouds should slow the melt and reduce the danger of wet avalanches. Low elevation snow is rapidly melting, but there is still a ton of snow holding out in the forests and on northerly facing slopes this spring. The danger of wet loose avalanches is much less with the cooler temps, but the saturated loose snow under the superficial refreeze could still be unstable, so wet slabs and glide avalanches are still possible.

The 8400' Tony Grove Snotel reports 32° Fand 129" of total snow. At the 9700' CSI Logan Peak weather station, it's 28° F and the wind is blowing from the west-southwest around 15 mph.

Here is the NWS point forecast (36 hrs) for Upper Elevations in the Central Bear River Range:

Today: Snow showers, mainly before noon. Steady temperature around 22. Wind chill values as low as 4. West wind 16 to 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.

Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 15. Wind chill values as low as 3. West northwest wind 12 to 17 mph becoming north 6 to 11 mph after midnight.

Friday: A 40 percent chance of snow showers, mainly after noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 30. Wind chill values as low as 10. East northeast wind 6 to 14 mph becoming west in the afternoon. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Clouds and showers will cool things down for a couple days, then skies will clear, the sun will be out, and temperatures will be on the rise again this weekend.

Additional Info

Significant fresh natural wet avalanche activity was visible Tuesday afternoon in Pine Canyon in the Wellsville Mountain Wilderness. (4-11-23)

General Announcements

  • Please submit your observations from the backcountry HERE.
  • For a list of avalanche classes from the Utah Avalanche Center go HERE
  • For information on where you can ride your sled or snow-bike, check out this map of the winter travel plan for the Logan and Ogden Ranger Districts HERE, and a close up of the Tony Grove and Franklin Basin Areas HERE.

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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