Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Ogden Area Mountains Issued by Drew Hardesty for Wednesday - March 28, 2018 - 7:38am
bottom line

Many areas continue to have an overall LOW avalanche danger. A MODERATE danger now exists for new and developing wind drifts primarily in steep north through east through south facing slopes in the uppe elevations. Watch for cross-loading onto other aspects and around other terrain features.

The smart money today heads for lower angle wind and sun sheltered terrain.
special announcement

Support the Snowbasin Avalanche Rescue Dog program at Alleged TONIGHT! at 6pm. Details here.

We have lift tickets for Snowbasin and Powder Mountain remaining. The tickets are discounted an additional 20%. Details and order information here. All proceeds from these go towards paying for avalanche forecasting and education!
current conditions

Skies are overcast with temps in the upper 20s to low 30s. Winds on Mt Ogden and James Peak are currently 30 gusting 35 and 15 gusting 20, respectively.

Toby and Paige toured the periphery of Snowbasin yesterday and their report can be found here.

recent activity

Some sun affected slopes were going off by midday and pushalanches were easy to initiate on steep slopes.

Avalanche Problem 1
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

Areas of Wind Slab. The light, cold, dry snow will move readily with the moderate to strong west to northwest winds and - perhaps being drifted on a collapsible and weak snow surface - may be surprisingly sensitive. Some wind drifts may be triggered from a distance. The drifts will be more prominent along the higher, more exposed north through east through south facing slopes but watch for cross-loading around terrain features on other aspects.
Avalanche Problem 2
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

We feel that the persistent slab issues are trending toward dormancy and human triggered slides are very unlikely. It may take a significant trigger in a thinner weak zone but more likely the poor structure is waiting for another significant weather event, be it precipitation or rapid warming and melting.
weather

With the warm front, we can expect periods of light snowfall and perhaps some riming today. Mountain temps will rise to the mid-30s at the mid-elevations. The west to northwest winds are expected to blow 30-40mph with gusts to 50+. Clouds should start to thin out in the valleys but hang around in the mountains...and then become partly cloudy for the next few days.
general announcements

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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 occur.