Avalanche — Wasatch Mountains I-80 North, Utah

2024-01-12 to 2024-01-13 · Wasatch Mountains I-80 North, Utah

Event narrative

At around 6:20 am MST, a natural avalanche occurred near the Dugway section of Logan Canyon. Per the Utah Avalanche Center report, this slab avalanche of wind-drifted snow started around 6000 feet on a west facing slope, had a vertical run of 150 feet, a width of 80 feet, and a depth of 2 feet. The avalanche hit a car on US-89 and pushed it against a guard rail, but no injuries were reported. This avalanche resulted in closure of US-89 in Logan Canyon between milepost 460 (near Logan) and milepost 490 (near Garden City/Bear Lake) for over 24 hours.

Wider weather episode

A fairly long duration two part winter storm moved through Utah in mid January. This winter storm resulted in several days of fairly substantial mountain snow, with more modest accumulations noted in some of the lower elevation valleys. Mountain snow was more or less a continuous feature with minimal breaks between the two portions of the system, while most valley accumulations occurred during the colder second half of the system. This system also produced periods of strong sustained winds and gusts, and was responsible for triggering multiple avalanches throughout Utah's mountains.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1150839. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.