Same as yesterday, winds cranked overnight in the Ogden area mountains - see graph in current conditions - and will continue to be the main influencer again today as speeds should average in the 30's mph with gusts upwards of 50+ mph. They are expected to back down a bit in the afternoon without changing direction. Though they'll blow primarily from the southwest, all aspects will be affected. Wind drifted snow will quickly form stiff wind slabs near ridgelines and crossloading will likely occur on or around terrain features like subridges and gullies on exposed slopes off the ridgelines. There will be wind slabs building on top of wind slabs today so avoid steep slopes with freshly wind drifted snow and look for obvious signs of instability like cracking or collapsing. (click here to learn more about wind slabs.)

Cornices are becoming more widespread along ridgelines and will continue to grow larger and more sensitive with today’s strong winds. Cornices often break back further than expected, on to what looks like flat terrain. Give them a wide berth and avoid travel below them.

Avalanches triggered Wednesday on buried layers of faceted snow on steep slopes show dangerous conditions exist in the Ogden area mountains. Many slopes have poor structure – soft sugary, weak layers, both mid-pack and near the ground. It seems some of the steep slopes are just waiting for a trigger – and which slopes will slide are unpredictable - though slopes facing northerly through easterly are the most likely places to trigger a slide and should be avoided, especially in continuously steep terrain or slopes with terrain such as gullies, trees or cliff bands. This type of avalanche has the potential to run far down into low elevation terrain as evidenced by Wednesday's Hells Canyon slides so avoid travel under steep northwest through east facing slopes. Getting caught in this type of avalanche could be unsurvivable.

As with wind slabs, cracking and collapsing are bulls-eye clues to instability, but for persisent slabs these clues may not be present, and snow pit tests could be unreliable.

To learn more about persisent slab and other types of avalanche problems, click here.