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Logan
Hello and good morning, this is Toby Weed of the
We are issuing an Avalanche Watch for Sunday through
Monday night for the mountains of
Current Conditions:
Today
will be the calm before the storm.
Should see plenty of sunshine, and a gradually strengthening southwest
breeze will usher in warmer temperatures.
It’s already a balmy 15 degrees at 9400’ at Campbell Scientifics’
Avalanche Conditions:
I
triggered a wind slab avalanche on Thursday
near the summit of Big Baldy in upper First Waterfall Hollow. The 50-60’ wide by 1’ deep avalanche involved
stiff freshly drifted snow deposited overnight on small grained sugary snow
called near surface facets. Yesterday,
strong southerly winds and blowing snow drove me out of the high country in
search of shelter. On my way down, I
caused extensive surface cracking, which indicates that the few inches of new
snow is not sitting very well on the old.
Earlier in the week we noted widespread frost or surface hoar crystals
on the snow surface, and the development of weak sugary snow called facets in
the upper layers. Yesterday’s few inches
of fresh snow nicely capped these weaknesses.
From the Wasatch backcountry and ski areas from the
Today you could find some of the same type of
wind slab activity on many drifted slopes steeper than about 35 degrees. The problem is most likely to be found at
upper elevations, near ridge tops, and on slopes facing the northern half of
the compass. Slabs will be 1’to 2’ deep
and may be quite sensitive, as many formed on weak surface snow. Watch for smooth chalky looking or hollow
sounding drifts on steep exposed slopes and cross-loaded slabs in and around
terrain features like gully walls, roll-offs, sub-ridges, and cliff bands.
Bottom Line:
There’s a MODERATE danger in the backcountry, and you
might trigger wind slab avalanches on drifted slopes steeper than about 35
degrees at all elevations. Pockets with
a CONSIDERABLE
danger probably exist on steep upper elevation slopes with significant deposits
of wind drifted snow, especially on slopes facing the northern half of the
compass. Use good snow assessment and
safe travel techniques to minimize your risks.
Expect the danger to rise significantly tomorrow with heavy snowfall and
strong winds in the forecast.
Mountain Weather:
Today will be mostly sunny and warmer, with a
gradually intensifying southwesterly wind.
The National Weather Service has issued a Winter
Storm Watch for Sunday morning through Monday afternoon. The winds will begin to pick up significantly
overnight tonight. Expect developing
heavy snowfall and strong winds tomorrow in the prefrontal environment, and
frontal passage sometime Monday morning.
Expect 1 to 2+ feet of snowfall in the mountains by Monday
evening….Another productive storm is forecast for around Wednesday.
Check out photos of avalanches in
the Logan Area on our images page.
Go to the Avalanche Encyclopedia if you have any
questions about terms I use in the advisory
I'm very
interested to know what you're seeing out there. Please
e-mail observations to me at uaclogan@avalanche.org or leave me a message at 755-3638, especially if you
see or trigger an avalanche in the backcountry. We keep all observations
confidential.
The second annual avalanche
awareness ride is Saturday Feb. 2nd and we’d love to see all of you
there! Proceeds help to support
snowmobile specific avalanche awareness projects. Details can be found at http://www.avarides.com/
This advisory will expire in 24
hours from the posting time.
The information in this advisory is from the U.S. Forest Service, which
is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general
avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.
