UDOT PLANNED AVALANCHE CLOSURES!!

Observation: Ogden Mountains

Observation Date
2/12/2015
Observer Name
CO
Region
Ogden » Ogden Mountains
Location Name or Route
Ogden area mtns
Weather
Sky
Few
Wind Direction
North
Wind Speed
Light
Weather Comments
High thin clouds. Light wind on ridge tops mostly out of the North and occcaionally switching NW.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Powder
Dense Loose
Faceted Loose
Wind Crust
Melt-Freeze Crust
Damp
Snow Characteristics Comments

NNW thru NE holding great snow above 8000'. Saw graupel in the top few inches spilling out onto the uptrack. Also surface hoar in the morning in the shady protected areas and near surface faceting. W and E had crust in the morning and later turning to damp. South barely had any snow. Mostly rocks.

Red Flags
Red Flags
Cracking
Collapsing
Rapid Warming
Poor Snowpack Structure
Red Flags Comments
North slope at 9130' just off the ridgeline dug a hand pit, came out SP with energy with easy to moderate pull. Failing on loose faceted grains about 15-18" from the top. Then when I took a step away from the pit we had a loud whompf with collapsing. This was a 35+ degree slope so we went elsewhere. Later in the day on our uptrack we had more collapsing and cracking in a protected area on a North aspect at 8420'. I suspect some buried surface hoar here. See picture below. Also I had a few isolated wind slabs near the ridges break off. Small and manageable.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Wet Snow
Trend
Same
Problem #1 Comments

Loose snow and maybe a soft slab on steep North facing aspect.

Today's Observed Danger Rating
Low
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Low