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Forecast for the Ogden Area Mountains

Evelyn Lees
Issued by Evelyn Lees on
Saturday morning, April 9, 2016

The avalanche danger is MODERATE today at the low and mid elevations in the Ogden area mountains, where wet loose sluffs could be triggered. There is also an isolated chance of triggering a wet slab avalanche or having a glide avalanche release.

Low
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Special Announcements

End of the season: Sunday, April 10th, will be our last regular early morning up date for the 2015-2016 winter season. We will continue to do weather-dependent intermittent updates through the month of April, and continue to post your observations on a daily basis. Your observations will become increasingly important to the backcountry community.

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Weather and Snow

Under partly cloudy skies, ridge line temperatures in the Ogden area mountains are in the low 30s, about 3 to 6 degrees cooler than yesterday morning. Low elevation to mid temperatures are warmer though, in the 40s. Winds are from the southwest, and averaging 15 to 25 mph, with gusts to 35 mph. There should be a good refreeze of the snow surface at the upper elevations, and beware of slipping and going for a long ride on the hard icy surfaces.

Recent Avalanches

There was a report of collapsing Thursday of the thin melt freeze crust on Cutler Ridge, continuing a trend of collapsing this week. Also, earlier this week, large glide avalanches released in Stairs and Broads Fork in Big Cottonwood Canyon and glide cracks have been reported from low in Cutler Basin. Here are the most recent observations from the Ogden area mountains.

Ogden 04/8/2016 Observation: Willard Peak John mletschnig Details
Ogden 04/5/2016 Observation: Snowbasin Backcountry Bill Hunt Details

Example of a recent glide avalanche, Broads Fork, BCC, Matt Primomo photo


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Avalanche Problem #1
Wet Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description

It may be possible to trigger a wet sluff today on steep low to mid elevation slopes, especially on the northerly facing and treed slopes, which had a poor to no overnight refreeze. Reports from yesterday included the snow being absolute much below 8,000' by noon and skier triggered roller balls below 8,000'. Clouds and wind should help keep the snow pack cool at the upper elevations today.

Even with LOW danger for other issues, travel in snow covered alpine terrain always has some risk….

There is an isolated chance of triggering a wet slab avalanche, where a frozen crust fails on wet snow beneath. Any collapsing or bending of the crust where you are means poor layering, and time to get off steep slopes.

Glide avalanches continue to be a wild card – occurring where smooth rock slabs underlie the snow pack. Release is random, so avoid travel below any glide cracks.

Additional Information

A series of weak storm systems moving across the desert southwest will bring scattered rain and snow showers to northern Utah this afternoon into the night, with a 20% chance of lightning. Skies will be partly to mostly cloudy today, with 10,000’ temperatures in the low to mid 30s and 8000’ temperatures in the upper 40s. This puts the rain/snow line between 9 and 10,000’, though only a trace to 2” of snow is expected. The southerly winds will average 10 to 20 mph, with gusts in the 30 to 35 mph range. Temperatures will be slightly cooler Sunday, with the chance of rain and snow showers more isolated.

General Announcements

Remember your information can save lives. If you see anything we should know about, please help us out by submitting snow and avalanche conditions. You can also call us at 801-524-5304, email by clicking HERE, or include #utavy in your tweet or Instagram.

To get help in an emergency (to request a rescue) in the Wasatch, call 911. Be prepared to give your GPS coordinates or the run name. Dispatchers have a copy of the Wasatch Backcountry Ski map.

Backcountry Emergencies. It outlines your step-by-step method in the event of a winter backcountry incident.

If you trigger an avalanche in the backcountry, but no one is hurt and you do not need assistance, please notify the nearest ski area dispatch to avoid a needless response by rescue teams. Thanks.

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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 exist.

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