This week is Avalanche Awareness Week. Events are happening daily across the state to prepare you for winter and get you thinking about avalanche safety.
- Tonight: 12/4 - Ogden Avalanche Backcountry Bash at The Monarch - 6 pm
- Saturday: 12/6- The Utah Snow and Avalanche Workshop with in-person and virtual tickets still available
Find out about all our events HERE.
This morning, trailhead temperatures are in the 20s ˚ Fahrenheit, and upper elevations are 10˚ -15˚ Fahrenheit. Winds at blowing from the W at 10-25 mph at 9500 feet. A trace to an inch fell yesterday.
Today, skies will be mostly clear with some low clouds obscuring peaks early in the morning that should burn off by late morning. Temperatures rise into the low to mid 20˚ Fahrenheit. Winds will be from the WNW at 9000 feet, will be light 5-10 mph, and 20-30 mph along the upper elevation ridgelines. We may see an increase in winds late this afternoon as the storm approaches from the northwest.
This weekend, a significant winter storm moves in late tonight through the weekend with 1 to 2 feet of snow expected. The wet and windy storm favors Northern Utah and locations with a WNW flow. Expect the rain/snow line to rise through Saturday morning to ~7500 feet before the cold front arrives Saturday afternoon. Avalanche danger will quickly rise as snow accumulates.
Our partners are the National Weather Service in SLC have issued a Winter Storm Watch for the Wasatch and Western Uinta Mountains from late tonight through late Saturday night in anticipation of a prolonged period of heavy snowfall.
No recent avalanches were reported in the Ogden area mountains, but further south near Alta, Pro-observer Mark White remotely triggered a soft slab avalanche on a northeast-facing slope at 10,400 feet. The avalanche broke 12 inches deep and 30 feet wide. View his full observation here. A similar avalanche could be triggered in the Northern Wasatch, especially where wind has drifted snow into a cohesive slab.
