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Forecast for the Logan Area Mountains

Toby Weed
Issued by Toby Weed on
Tuesday morning, April 6, 2021
Heightened avalanche conditions and MODERATE danger exist in the backcountry. Rain fell on already melt-saturated snow and wet avalanches remain possible on very steep slopes. Also, people could trigger loose avalanches or shallow slab avalanches of drifted new snow on steep upper elevation slopes. If the snow surface warms, loose wet avalanches entraining moist new snow will be likely in steep terrain.

EVALUATE SNOW AND TERRAIN CAREFULLY
Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
Extreme
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Weather and Snow
Looks like about 5 inches of new snow fell at the 8400' Tony Grove Snotel. Temperatures dropped over 30 degrees since yesterday afternoon and it's a cool 20°F this morning. There is 58" of total snow containing about 65% of normal SWE. Winds from the west are blowing around 18 mph, and it's 13°F at the 9700' CSI Logan Peak weather station.

Snow showers will continue today in the high country, with 3 to 5 additional inches of accumulation possible on upper elevation slopes. Hopefully it will stay cloudy this afternoon, and high temperatures at upper elevations should be around 30°F, with moderate west winds. The sun will be out tomorrow, and it looks like fair spring weather in the mountains will set up and last through the rest of the week.
A new natural wet loose avalanche in the Wellsville Mountain Wilderness seen beneath the setting moon, 4-3-21.
Recent Avalanches
The excessive heat this weekend caused natural wet avalanche activity to occur on steep slopes in the Logan Zone, including this nice wet avalanche in Drop-in, Drop-out in Lower Logan Canyon.
This natural wet avalanche in Lower Logan Canyon was observed Sunday on a north facing slope, and it started at around 8000' in elevation.
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Avalanche Problem #1
Wet Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
  1. Rain fell on the snow at mid elevations before it turned to snow early last night. This may have saturated snow and created unstable conditions on some very steep slopes, especially around and under cliff bands.
  2. The new snow from overnight is insulating very soft wet melt and rain-sodden snow, and wet avalanches remain possible for people to trigger on very steep slopes.
  3. If the fresh snow surface warms today, wet loose avalanches entraining moist new snow will be possible.
Avalanche Problem #2
New Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
Several inches of new snow accumulated on upper elevation slopes, and westerly winds built soft wind slabs in lee slope avalanche starting zones and in and around terrain features like gullies, sub-ridges. and cliff bands.
Long running loose avalanches or sluffs of new snow are possible on sustained steep slopes.
Additional Information
General Spring Travel Advise:
As daytime temperatures rise, softening the snow, the danger of wet avalanches will increase, so its a good idea to get in the habit of an early start and to plan on heading down before things get too sloppy.
-Watch for trees or other terrain traps below you if you venture onto steep slopes.
-Roller balls, pin-wheels, and natural wet avalanche activity are red flags indicating potential for people to trigger wet avalanches.
-If you start sinking deeply into wet snow, or if the snow you are traveling on becomes unsupportable due to the heat, it's time to leave.

Do you have the essential avalanche rescue gear (transceiver, probe, and shovel) and do you know how to use them? Watch this video to see how the three pieces of equipment work together. HERE
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We will update this forecast by around 7:30 tomorrow 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.