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Forecast for the Logan Area Mountains

Toby Weed
Issued by Toby Weed on
Thursday morning, January 20, 2022
The snow is stable, the danger LOW, and avalanches are unlikely. Use normal caution.
Stay in the habit of practicing safe backcountry travel protocols by not exposing more than one person at a time to potential avalanches, and convince your riding companions to check and practice with their avalanche rescue equipment.
Low
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Considerable
High
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Learn how to read the forecast here
Special Announcements
Thanks to the generous support of our local resorts and Ski Utah, discount lift tickets are now available. Support the UAC while you ski at the resorts this season. Tickets are available HERE
Weather and Snow
Low danger does not mean no danger, and there is a small chance that a person could trigger an isolated dangerous avalanche failing on a persistent weak layer near the ground. I'm still cautious in isolated areas with shallow snow cover (3 feet or less), especially very steep rocky slopes and those with a smooth underlying ground surface. Areas where you sink into weak sugary snow when you hop off your sled or can poke your ski pole all the way to the ground are suspect.
The snow in the backcountry is supportable and mostly stable. You'll find fast snow conditions and challenging areas with rock hard or variable and breakable crusts. While the snow is extra crunchy especially at lower elevations due to last week's rain storm, soft recrystallized surface snow can be found in sheltered shady terrain up higher, and sunny slopes are smooth and "buttery". It didn't rain so much, and the snow isn't so crusty north and east of about Beaver Mountain.
The 8400' Tony Grove Snotel reports 17°F this morning and there is 70 inches of total snow with 129% of normal SWE for the date. Winds out of the northwest are blowing around 20 mph this morning at the CSI Logan Peak weather station. We'll see increasing clouds today with high temperatures at 8500' around 20°F, and a good chance for some snow this afternoon and evening. It will snow tonight, heavily at times, with temperatures holding at around 21°F and 3 to 7 inches forecast to accumulate on upper elevation slopes in the Central Bear River Range. It looks like clearing again tomorrow and fair weather for the upcoming weekend and beyond...
Recent Avalanches
It's been a couple weeks since the last large natural avalanches occurred in the Logan Zone. An observer sent in this picture of a natural deep slab avalanche in the Mount Naomi Wilderness that likely occurred during the warm and very wet storm in the first week of January.
Observers also report some recent loose wet activity in the Cherry Creek Area in the Mount Naomi Wilderness.
Check HERE for all the latest observations and avalanche activity.
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Avalanche Problem #1
Normal Caution
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
LOW danger means the snow is stable and avalanches are unlikely on most slopes in the backcountry, but whenever you venture into the mountains you need to use your head and travel with caution. There is some nice soft recrystallized surface snow in sheltered upper elevation terrain. Supportable snow makes for easy and fast travel up high, but a breakable crust makes midday travel a bit more challenging at low and mid elevations.
  • Although increasingly unlikely as time passes, people still might trigger dangerous avalanches breaking several feet deep on faceted snow near the ground on isolated upper elevation slopes steeper than 30°. Watch for and avoid very steep slopes with thin snow cover (3 feet or less), especially if you sink into weak snow or can poke your ski pole through loose snow to the ground.
The problem is not widespread, but if we look in areas with shallow snow, we find weak sugary faceted snow near the ground capped by a couple-foot-thick slab of much harder snow. Avalanches might be possible on very steep slopes in these areas.
Additional Information
  • Always follow safe backcountry travel protocols. Go one person at a time in avalanche terrain, (anytime while traveling on or under backcountry slopes steeper than 30°) while the rest of your party watches from a safe area.
  • Check your avalanche rescue equipment, change your batteries, and practice often with your backcountry partners.
    Check slope angles, and to avoid avalanches stay off of and out from under slopes steeper than 30° and adjacent slopes. Video Here
General Announcements
Who's up for some free avalanche training? Get a refresher, become better prepared for an upcoming avalanche class, or just boost your skills. Go to https://learn.kbyg.org/ and scroll down to Step 2 for a series of interactive online avalanche courses produced by the UAC.
  • Check out all the upcoming education classes and clinics HERE.
  • Please submit your observations from the backcountry HERE.
This information does not apply to developed ski areas or highways where avalanche control is normally done. 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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