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Observation: North Ogden Divide

Observation Date
12/28/2022
Observer Name
Champion/Allen
Region
Ogden » North Ogden Divide
Location Name or Route
North Ogden Divde
Weather
Sky
Obscured
Precipitation
Moderate Rain
Wind Direction
Northwest
Wind Speed
Moderate
Weather Comments
Moderate to heavy cold rain throughout the tour with moderate winds and strong gusts. Snowline hovered above 7500' during most the tour, and began to drop to around 7000' near 2 PM. Goretex and gloves fully soaked through.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Damp
Snow Characteristics Comments
Snowpack was completely saturdated and isothermal at most elevations.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Rapid Warming
Comments
Traveled up from the North Ogden Divide towards the top of Lime Kiln Creek. It was raining from the car to our high point near 7200'. The entire snowpack seemed to be saturated in all aspects regardless of snow depth. The snowline seemed to hover near 7500' before dropping to about 7000' around 2 PM. The snowpack was isothermal on all westerly, and southerly-facing aspects during the tour. On an east-facing aspect at 7200,' we stuck our shovels in the snow to look for the weak early-season facets. We found a snowpack depth of 70 cm, with 50 cm of F to 4 to 1 F hard saturated snow sitting of the weak faceted grains. We could see the water moving through the snowpack, and pooling on previous layers and crust interfaces. The entire snowpack above the facets seemed wet, while at the time (around 1 PM) the facets only seemed damp but were actively becoming more saturated. We got an ECTP29 on the facets but did not note any other activity on that aspect or layer. With the drop in temperatures, I would guess things lock up a bit, and riding conditions below 7500' become rather complicated.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Considerable
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
None
Coordinates