Observation: Ogden Valley

Observation Date
3/20/2020
Observer Name
Derek DeBruin
Region
Ogden » Ogden Valley
Location Name or Route
Ogden
Weather
Weather Comments
Working from home today, so not out in the field, but I thought it worth noting that there was a graupel event between 1 and 2PM all the way down to the valley floor. Looking at the east bench as well as points north, the rain/snow line seems to be somewhere around 6,000ft, though there was sleet well below this elevation through a fair amount of the day. I'm expecting lots of rain soaked snow near trailheads tomorrow and will be on the lookout for graupel pooling at the mid elevations. With the warmer and sunnier weekend weather, this may not be a problem ahead of the snow in the forecast next week, but something to keep an eye on if it survives the weekend warm up.
Comments
This roof was bare this morning; the accumulated snow is graupel. This is a good illustration of how graupel pooling works, gathering in the concavities in the terrain. This can occur in drainages/gullys (such as the valley of this roof), changes from steeper slopes to the flats or frozen ponds/lakes below (as seen on the edges of the shingles on this roof), and below cliffs.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
None
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
None