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Forecast for the Logan Area Mountains

Toby Weed
Issued by Toby Weed on
Wednesday morning, December 2, 2020
There is LOW danger in the backcountry and avalanches are unlikely. Beware of very shallow, early season snow conditions.
Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
Extreme
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Special Announcements
Utah State University Outdoor Programs is hosting a FREE Know Before You Go avalanche awareness presentation (via ZOOM) on Wednesday Dec 2 at 7pm. Pre-register here.
The holiday season is right around the corner!! Looking for that special something for your partner?
Well, we've got an easy shopping solution for you ...Buy your gifts at our Pray for Snow online auction and support the UAC in Logan. HERE
Weather and Snow
We're seeing a few snow showers in the mountains this morning and a cold northeast wind. Wind chill values will be around -13°F today at 8500'! Dry conditions will continue into the foreseeable future, with a warming trend at upper elevations for the next few days. Daytime mountain temperatures will be up in the mid forties over the weekend.
Hitting rocks or other shallowly buried obstacles presents a significant hazard. You have to be very careful. Keep your speed down. Stick to smooth grassy slopes and low angled terrain. Most slopes have less than about 2' of total snow, and a steep temperature gradient is turning the shallow snow into loose sugary or faceted grains. The weak snow on the ground is easy to punch through to the rocks below. It will likely become a persistent weak layer at the base of the snowpack on many slopes.
Only an inch or so of new snow this week, and upper elevation winds messed up the snow surface in exposed terrain. You now sink all the way to the ground through sugary snow near rocks and in shallow places.
Avalanche Problem #1
Normal Caution
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
Potential for triggering small slabs of drifted snow may be found on extreme or very steep upper elevation slopes, and people could trigger avalanches. Increasing east winds today may drift recrystallized surface snow into shallow slabs on some upper elevation slopes and into unexpected areas.
  • Even a small avalanche could be very dangerous due to shallow early season snow conditions. You do not want to get caught and carried over rocks or strained through bushes and stumps, so it's best to avoid travel on all steep drifted slopes.
Additional Information
It’s a good idea to tone it down in the early season because it’s pretty easy to get hurt in shallow snow, and it’s absolutely the worst time to do so because you could ruin your whole season.
Everybody should make time to examine and practice with your avalanche rescue equipment, and convince your backcountry partners to practice with you.
General Announcements
Visit this website with information about Responsible Winter Recreation by the Utah Office of Outdoor Recreation.
If you missed the 13th Annual Utah Snow and Avalanche Workshop, the recordings are available for purchase from the UAC Store. HERE
The Tony Grove Road is not maintained for wheeled vehicles in the winter.
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.
I will update this advisory by around 7:30 Friday morning.
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.
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