Forecast: Ogden Area Mountains - Utah Avalanche Center

Forecast for the Ogden Area Mountains

Issued by Greg Gagne for
Monday, March 14, 2022

Areas of CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger exist on steep aspects facing northwest to north to east at all elevations. Avalanches may be 1-3' deep, over a hundred feet wide and may be triggered remotely (from a distance).

A MODERATE danger exists at the mid and upper elevations for shallow wind drifts and lingering instabilities within the storm snow including sluffing and soft slabs of new snow.

Expect small loose, wet avalanches on east, south, and west aspects due to warming from strong sunshine.

Sunday's dense storm snow will provide safer and superb riding conditions on lower-angled slopes - just make sure there is nothing steep above you.

Low

Moderate

Considerable

High

Extreme

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Weather and Snow

Skies are partly cloudy and temperatures are in the mid teens F. Winds are from the northwest and were moderate to strong through about midnight with gusts in the 20's and 30's mph, but have since relaxed and are now gusting in the teens.

Snowfall totals since Sunday morning are 2-4".

Partly cloudy skies this morning will give way to a mostly sunny afternoon. Temperatures will rise into the mid 30's. Winds will be from the northwest, averaging in the teens with gusts near 20 at mid elevations and into the 20's at upper elevations.

Recent Avalanches

No backcountry avalanches reported from Sunday.

Read Drew's new blog post about accidents, "Deus Ex Machina".

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

Dangerous avalanche conditions exist on some slopes facing northwest through north and east at all elevations. Avalanches are failing on a layer of faceted snow (a persistent weak layer, or PWL) that formed during the January/February drought. Avalanches failing on this PWL are 1-3' deep and over 100' wide. Friday's snowmobiler-triggered slide in Farmington Canyon provides an example of this avalanche problem (photo below).

I traveled to Ben Lomond on Sunday and found this poor structure of a stronger slab on top of weaker snow and my partners and I kept to lower-angled slopes.

A few additional notes of caution:

Signs of instability may not always be present: you may or may not see or experience shooting cracks or audible collapsing.
Tracks on the slope offer zero signs of stability. Avalanches can take out multiple existing tracks.
You can trigger these avalanches remotely - from a distance or from below.

The good news is that Sunday's dense snow will provide safer and superb riding conditions on lower-angled slopes with nothing steeper above you.

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

Pockets of fresh wind drifted snow can be found at the upper elevations - especially aspects facing northwest through east - as well as mid-elevation slopes in exposed/open terrain. Cracking in these dense slabs of wind-drifted snow are an indication they are sensitive.

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

Instabilities within Sunday's storm snow should rapidly settle out today, but you may still find pockets of sensitive soft slabs 2-4" deep as well as sluffing on steep slopes. The fresh snow will also likely become reactive to today's sunshine, with loose wet avalanches on aspects facing east, south, and west.

Additional Information

Blog on "Our Jan/Feb Drought Layer and PWL Summary of Avalanche Activity on This Layering for the Central Wasatch Range." HERE.

General Announcements

Who's up for some free avalanche training? Get a refresher, become better prepared for an upcoming avalanche class, or just boost your skills. Go to https://learn.kbyg.org/ and scroll down to Step 2 for a series of interactive online avalanche courses produced by the UAC.

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

Observations and Avalanches

Backcountry Emergency Procedures