Thursday, March 11th 2010

brett — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 07:26:32 -0700

Bottom line:

We have a mostly MODERATE avalanche danger today. Watch for minor heat initiate activity with daytime heating on east through south through west aspects. Mid elevation slopes should be approached with caution as buried surface hoar may still produce an avalanche on northwest through northeast aspects.

Current Conditions:

Temperatures are cold this morning at just above zero in many mountain locations. We have light winds from the northwest along the mid elevation ridges and only gusting into the 20s along the most exposed peaks.

Recent Avalanche Activity:

No avalanche activity was reported from the Ogden area mountains.

Threat #1:

We need to start thinking daily about heat initiated and wet avalanche activity as temperatures get warmer during the approach of spring. Watch the lower elevations as well as east through south through north facing slopes at all elevations for rollerballing and wet loose activity.

Threat #2:

You will still want to avoid a number of steep slopes that still could avalanche and break into our buried surface hoar layers. The chances for triggering something are becoming less over time but there are still a number of mid elevation slopes that I'm keeping clear of.

Mountain Weather:

We're going to see partly cloudy skies with high pressure building this afternoon. Ridgetop temperatures will get into the mid 20s but may feel warmer with solar radiation. Winds will be from the northwest and may increase in speed slightly as the day goes on. A storm will move through this weekend but it looks like it is going to split and form a closed low to our south which is not ideal for snow accumulation in our area.

General Anouncements:

SLC: Please contact Alta Central (801-742-2033) if you trigger a large avalanche in the backcountry, especially if you are adjacent to a ski area, 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.

Ogden: Please contact Snowbasin ski patrol (801620-1000/1017) if you trigger a large avalanche in the backcountry, especially if you are adjacent to a ski area, 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.

Provo: Please contact Sundance ski patrol (801 -223-4150) if you trigger a large avalanche in the backcountry, especially if you are adjacent to a ski area, 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.

Discount Lift tickets: Ski Utah, Backcountry.com, Alta, Deer Valley, Park City, The Canyons, Wolf Mountain, Snowbasin, Beaver Mountain, Brighton, Sundance, and Solitude have donated a limited number of tickets for sale at discounted prices.

Wasatch Powderbird Guides flight plan.

Dawn Patrol Forecast Hotline, updated by 05:30:888-999-4019 option 8.

Daily observations are frequently posted by 10 pm each evening.

Free UAC iPhone app from Canyon Sports.

Subscribe to the daily avalanche advisory e-mail click HERE.

UDOT canyon closures UDOT at (801) 975-4838

We appreciate all your avalanche and snow observations. You can also call us at 801-524-5304 or 800-662-4140, or fill out the observation form on our home page.

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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.

Bruce will update this forecast tomorrow morning. Thanks for calling.

Utah Avalanche Center - Ogden

Thursday, March 11th 2010