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Forecast for the Ogden Area Mountains

Issued by Bruce Tremper for
Friday, March 8, 2013

With a couple inches of new snow today above 7,000' and light rain below, watch for new and old, lingering wind slabs in the upper elevation, wind exposed terrain and isolated wet sluffs below 8,000' The overall danger rating in these areas is Moderate.

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Special Announcements

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Weather and Snow

Snow is just beginning in the mountains on a southerly flow with the rain-snow line around 7,000'. We're expecting a couple inches during the day with 4 more inches expected tonight. Winds are moderate from the south with temperatures in the mid 20's. Yesterday's snow surface conditions were a bit character inducing with sun and wind crusts, lots of old tracks and punchy snow with an inch of snow to help smooth it out a little.. I would give it a rating of not so good to OK in spots. Today's new snow should help.

Recent Avalanches

No significant activity from yesterday with the exception of one significant avalanche from one of the park City resorts on a heavily wind-loaded, north facing slope triggered by a controlled cornice drop. Otherwise, just a few small, wet, loose avalanches at lower elevations. Not many people were out yesterday, though.

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Avalanche Problem #1
Persistent Weak Layer
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description

Although it's a relatively minor problem, today, you may find a few old, lingering wind slabs in the upper elevation wind exposed terrain along with some new, shallow, soft wind slabs from today's snow. Some of them may rest on persistent weak layers, especially in the thinner snowpack areas. You will find these mostly on slopes that face the north half of the compass but they could be cross-loaded into other terrain as well. As usual, be suspicious of recent deposits of wind drifted snow in steep terrain, which will look smooth and rounded. Older wind deposits will be covered by the new snow but they will often feel slabby or punchy.

Avalanche Problem #2
Wet Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description

With light rain expected today below about 7,000' we will have some additional water added to an already moist, isothermal snowpack. So we may see some isolated, wet sluffs on steep slopes today on all aspects below about 8,000'. This should be a minor problem but worth mentioning. As always, watch that wet sluffs don't take you into a terrain trap or over cliffs.

Additional Information

With a big, closed low pressure system tracking across southern Utah and Arizona, we will see warm, moist air streaming into Utah from the south today, which should give us a couple inches of snow up high and light rain down low. The rain-snow line should be around 7,000' today. Ridge top winds should remain light to moderate from the south. 8,000' temperatures should rise from the mid 20's this morning to the mid 30's by afternoon.

Tonight, as the low passes through southern Utah, the ridgetop winds will switch to the north and temperatures will cool. This should give us about 4 inches of snow overnight and bring the rain-snow line down near the benches at 5,000'.

Saturday, we should see continued unsettled weather with a couple inches of snow, temperatures about 5 degrees cooler than today--in the mid 20's and moderate winds from the northwest. Sunday looks mostly clear with light northerly winds. Then, we should have much warmer temperatures through mid week.

General Announcements

Go to http://www.backcountry.com/utah-avalanche-center to get tickets from our partners at Beaver Mountain, Canyons, Sundance, and Wolf Mountain. All proceeds benefit the Utah Avalanche Center.

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)

Ogden – Snowbasin Patrol Dispatch (801-620-1017)

Powder Mountain Ski Patrol Dispatch (801-745-3772 ex 123)

Provo – Sundance Patrol Dispatch (801-223-4150)

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

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Daily observations are frequently posted by 10 pm each evening.

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UDOT canyon closures UDOT at (801) 975-4838

Wasatch Powderbird Guides does daily updates about where they'll be operating on this blog http://powderbird.blogspot.com/ .

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 or 800-662-4140, email by clicking HERE, or include #utavy in your tweet.

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For a print version of this advisory click HERE.

This advisory is produced by the U.S. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. It describes only general avalanche conditions and local variations always exist. Specific terrain and route finding decisions should always be based on skills learned in a field-based avalanche class.

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