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Forecast for the Logan Area Mountains

Toby Weed
Issued by Toby Weed on
Sunday morning, March 26, 2023
There is CONSIDERABLE danger in drifted backcountry terrain at all elevations, and avalanches are likely on slopes steeper than 30°. Natural avalanches are possible and people are likely to trigger loose and soft slab avalanches of storm snow, large cornice falls, or thicker slab avalanches of wind drifted snow.
Backcountry avalanche conditions are dangerous, so make conservative decisions, evaluate snow and terrain carefully, and stay well away from and out from under those big cornices.
Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
Extreme
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Special Announcements
Thank you to everyone who donated to our Spring Campaign. We appreciate your support and look forward to creating new tools to help you stay safe in the backcountry.
We are in the process of finalizing a report about the March 9th avalanche fatality in the Uintas. Thank you for your patience, and we will publish the final report in coming days.
Weather and Snow
Although not quite like the cold smoke conditions like we had in January, we've been able to find very nice deep powder conditions in safe lower angled terrain (by staying off and out from under slopes steeper than 30°).
The 8400' Tony Grove Snotel reports 20 inches of new snow from Friday's storm. It's 3° F and there is 149" of total snow. The wind is blowing from the west around 15 mph, at the 9700' CSI Logan Peak weather station.
Here is the NWS point forecast (36 hrs) for high elevations in the Central Bear River Range:
Today: Snow showers likely, mainly before 9am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 18. Wind chill values as low as -6. West wind 8 to 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.
Tonight: A 30 percent chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 3. Wind chill values as low as -10. Southwest wind 8 to 14 mph. New snow accumulation of around an inch possible.
Monday: A 40 percent chance of snow showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 22. Wind chill values as low as -2. Northwest wind 7 to 13 mph becoming west southwest in the morning. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Although snow showers are predicted, it looks like the sun might come out for a bit on Monday. More unsettled, cold, and snowy weather is likely to last through the upcoming week, with a gradual warming trend.
Recent Avalanches
  • On Saturday, I went up to Maple Bench and checked out several very large and long running natural avalanches that occurred in the Wellsville Range overnight, (3-24/3-25). The very broad ~3' deep soft slab avalanches ran the full width and length of several the classic large avalanche paths and crashed down onto Maple Bench, southwest of Mendon.
  • A skier reports intentionally triggering a two-and-a-half foot deep soft slab avalanche on a northeast facing slope at around 8000' in elevation in the Emigrant Summit Area. report HERE
  • An observer noticed a fresh skier or rider triggered avalanche at low elevations near the Backside parking spot. report is HERE
  • For a list of recent avalanches in the Logan Zone go HERE
  • It was a bit more active in the Wasatch Range in the last few days due to wind drifted snow. Find a list of all recent observations & avalanches from across Utah HERE.
Avalanche Problem #1
Wind Drifted Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
This morning's westerly winds are much diminished, but they were plenty strong enough yesterday in the Bear River Range to drift the fresh snow into avalanche starting zones. Expect to find huge sensitive cornices and 2 to 3' thick freshly formed wind slabs in drifted upper elevation terrain.
  • Large cornice falls or 2' to 3' thick wind slabs are likely for people to trigger in windy terrain at upper elevations.
  • Avoid corniced slopes and stiffer drifts on steep slopes near ridges and in and around terrain features like cliff bands, sub-ridges, mid-slope break-overs, and gully walls.
  • The overhanging cornices on the high ridges are huge this year, and recent storms have built them further out and made them unstable, so people should continue to stay well away and out from under them.
Avalanche Problem #2
New Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
  • Loose and soft slab avalanches of storm snow, 1' to 3' deep are likely on slopes steeper than 30° at all elevations, and people could trigger avalanches of storm snow today even on generally sheltered slopes.
  • Natural avalanches of storm snow are most likely during periods of heavy snowfall and drifting, but could also be triggered by tree bombs or loose snow sluffing off rocks.
    Avalanches of new snow are possible on low elevation slopes.
  • The snow on lower elevation slopes is quite a bit deeper than it normally is this time of year, especially on shady forested slopes.
  • Colder temps are helping to solidify the saturated older snow, but many lower elevation slopes picked up significant accumulations of new snow in the past few days, and some recent avalanches have been reported from lower elevation terrain.
Additional Information
Here's a view from Friday, looking up the North Fork of Hell Canyon from Maple Bench.
A broad crown from a natural avalanche off Pleasant View Point that ran into Hell Canyon.
Most of the sub-drainages in Gibson Canyon showed activity, and some pretty big crowns are apparent.
The natural avalanches ran full width of their paths, and ~90% of the historic length.. size rating estimate of D3, R4
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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