UDOT PLANNED AVALANCHE CLOSURES!!

Forecast for the Ogden Area Mountains

Brett Kobernik
Issued by Brett Kobernik for
Thursday, November 27, 2014

There is a MODERATE avalanche danger in the Ogden area mountains today. There is a minor chance you could trigger a slab avalanche in the highest north facing terrain. Anticipate minor wet activity also.

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Weather and Snow

Temperatures have been on the rise for the last 48 hours and are currently 35 to 45 degrees at most mountain locations. Winds have decreased into the moderate speed range from the west. Snow observations from Wednesday included wet snow below around 8000 feet and on the more sunny aspects. Riding conditions were reported as good.

Recent Avalanches

Snow Safety teams at Powder Mountain reported one slab avalanche in uncompacted terrain. This seems to be somewhat of an outlier but does demonstrate there is some weakness within the snowpack in the Ogden area mountains.

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Avalanche Problem #1
Wind Drifted Snow
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Description

An overall shallow snowpack limits backcountry recreation in the Ogden are mountains currently. There was not much snow on the ground in early November to turn into a sugary weak layer like what the Salt Lake region has. You can probably find weak snow in the highest northerly aspects and there may be some avalanche danger in those areas. In areas where the snowpack is deeper than about 10 inches, you will probably want to consider today's warmer temperatures which could make the snow unstable enough to produce some minor wet avalanche activity especially on the more sunny slopes.

Additional Information

We'll see high thin clouds with mild temperatures and moderate speed west winds today. Anticipate unseasonably warm temperatures today. High pressure stays in place into the weekend with low confidence in potential storms following. We'll have warm temperatures again Friday and perhaps into Saturday and it looks slightly breezy as well. The EC and GFS weather models have drastically different scenarios for late in the weekend and into next week with the GFS showing better chances for storms.

General Announcements

Remember your information can save lives. If you see anything we should know about, please participate in the creation of our own community avalanche advisory by submitting snow and avalanche conditions. You can also call us at 801-524-5304, email by clicking HERE, or include #utavy in your tweet or Instagram.

If you trigger an avalanche in the backcountry - especially if you are adjacent to a ski area – please call the following teams to alert them to the slide and whether anyone is missing or not. Rescue teams can be exposed to significant hazard when responding to avalanches, and do not want to do so when unneeded. Thanks.

Salt Lake and Park City – Alta Central (801-742-2033), Canyons Resort Dispatch (435-615-3322)

Snowbasin Resort Dispatch (801-620-1017), Powder Mountain Dispatch (801-745-3772 x 123).

Sundance Dispatch (801-223-4150)

EMAIL ADVISORY If you would like to get the daily advisory by email you will need to subscribe here.​

DAWN PATROL Hotline updated daily by 5-530am - 888-999-4019 option 8.

Twitter Updates for your mobile phone - DETAILS

UDOT canyon closures: LINK TO UDOT

Utah Avalanche Center mobile app - Get your advisory on your iPhone along with great navigation and rescue tools.

Wasatch Powderbird Guides Blog/Itinerary for the Day.

Lost or Found something in the backcountry? - http://nolofo.com/

Ski Utah mobile snow updates

Discount lift tickets will soon be available at Backcountry.com - Thanks to Ski Utah and the Utah Resorts. All proceeds go towards paying for Utah Avalanche Center avalanche and mountain weather advisories.

To those skinning uphill at resorts: it is your responsibility to know the resort policy on uphill travel. You can see the uphill travel policy for each resort here. IMPORTANT: Before skinning or hiking at a resort under new snow conditions, check in with Ski Patrol. Resorts can restrict or cut off access if incompatible with control and grooming operations.

Benefit the Utah Avalanche Center when you shop from Backcountry.com or REI: Click this link for Backcountry.com or this link to REI, shop, and they will donate a percent of your purchase price to the UAC. Both offer free shipping (with some conditions) so this costs you nothing!

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This information does not apply to developed ski areas or highways where avalanche control is normally done. This advisory is from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always exist.