We are very sad to report that on 2-20-2021, a 48-year-old Preston man was killed in an avalanche on the east side of Sherman Peak west of Georgetown Idaho. Our preliminary accident report is HERE.

There is two inches of new snow with 0.1" SWE in the last 24 hours at the 8400' Tony Grove Snotel. It's 10°F, and there is 74 inches of total snow and 83% of normal SWE. Winds from the north are blowing 10 to 15 mph at the CSI Logan Peak weather station. There has been a good deal of drifting at upper elevations from mostly west winds in the past several days. On many steep slopes, the drifting has added weight and stiffness to the existing slab that is capping widespread weak sugary snow. Some slopes now hang in a precarious balanced state, only needing a person ride by to trigger a dangerous avalanche.

The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for late tonight through tomorrow for the northern Bear River Range, north of the Idaho State Line. A Winter Weather Advisory is in affect tomorrow for the rest of the mountains in the Logan Zone. We're expecting another cold day with increasing clouds in the mountains. There is a chance of snow showers this afternoon, but not much in the way of accumulation is expected. Temperatures at 8500' will top out at around 22°F, and moderate east-southeast winds veering from the west-southwest in the morning will create wind chill values as low as -13°F.

Snow will begin falling tonight, with increasing west-southwest winds. Expect increasing avalanche danger, with snow and blowing snow in the mountains tomorrow and tomorrow night, and a foot to a foot-and-a-half of accumulation possible on upper elevation slopes by Saturday morning.