Ogden Avalanche Advisory

Forecaster: Brett Kobernik

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

MODERATE: Natural avalanches are unlikely, HUMAN TRIGGERED AVALANCHES ARE POSSIBLE, larger avalanches in isolated areas are possible. MODERATE is not a LOW danger. People get injured and have been killed during a MODERATE avalanche danger rating.


BOTTOM LINE

Danger by aspect and elevation on slopes approaching 35° or steeper.
(click HERE for tomorrow's danger rating)


Danger Rose Tutorial

The overall avalanche danger for both newer wind slabs and more persistent slabs is MODERATE. This means human triggered avalanches are possible. The distribution of these is scattered but some of them could be fairly big. Mid and upper elevation slopes facing northwest through east are the most suspect.


CURRENT CONDITIONS

Temperatures dropped into the low to mid teens overnight with light northwest ridgetop winds. The mountains received a trace to a couple inches of new snow on Saturday that did include some graupel. Riming occurred in scattered areas where mid and low level clouds were present during the day. Out of wind and sun effected terrain, riding conditions aren't bad.


RECENT ACTIVITY

UPDATED: Large class 2 unintentionally skier triggered slide on 1-2-10 in Hell's Canyon. 6-10" deep, 50' wide ran 1700', 10' pile of debris. Unintentionally snowboard triggered slide on 1-2-10 in Toilet Bowl (north of Hell's) 6-12" deep, 70-90' wide, ran 200'. Also one intentionally skier triggered on 1-1-10 6-12" deep, 30' wide ran 600'. All slides were in areas with a previously shallow and very weak structure. Recent winds have helped the formation of the slab above the weakness.

Human triggered avalanches in the Salt Lake region were on Bountiful Peak, West Porter Fork in Mill Creek and Kessler Peak in Big Cottonwood. They were all on northeast facing aspects and all seemed to involve wind loaded terrain with last weeks now buried facets acting as the weakness. They averaged about a foot deep and ranged from 30 to 100 feet wide. (Check Current Conditions in the upper menu for more details on each of these)


THREAT #1

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

Recently wind loaded slopes are the main focus today in the backcountry. Mid and upper elevation slopes, especially near ridgelines with an easterly component are the most likely spots to trigger an avalanche. Watch for snow that has a "thicker" feel to it. An increase in hand hardness from the underlying faceted snow to the newest snow is the poor structure you want to avoid.


THREAT #2

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

With a plethora of weak snow around, I can't rule out the possibility of triggering something into older faceted snow. It seems like you have to hunt around to find a slab that will fail but again, it's not hard to find areas with lots of week underlying snow. Continue to pay attention to any collapsing or "whoomping" noises indicating a failure of these weak grains.


MOUNTAIN WEATHER

We'll see partly cloudy skies today with ridgetop highs around 20. Ridgetop winds will be light or may bump in speed slightly from the northwest. We should see partly cloudy skies over the next couple of days with a slight overall increase in temperatures. A minor disturbance is showing up in the models around mid week but doesn't look like it will produce much snow as of now.


GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Discount Lift tickets: Ski Utah, Backcountry.com, Alta, Deer Valley, Park City, The Canyons, Wolf Mountain, Snowbasin, Beaver Mountain, Brighton, Sundance, and Solitude have donated a limited number of tickets for sale at discounted prices.

For the Wasatch Powderbird Guides schedule go to their blog

Dawn Patrol Forecast Hotline, updated by 05:30: call 888-999-4019, option 8,

Daily observations are frequently posted by 10 pm each evening.

You can get a free iPhone application from Canyon Sports to display the Bottom Line.

To get a daily avalanche advisory e-mail click HERE.

For a text only version click the upper left link under Search

For canyon closures call UDOT at (801) 975-4838

Send us your avalanche and snow observations. You can also call 801-524-5304 or 800-662-4140, or email to uac@utahavalanchecenter.org

Donate to your favorite non-profit – The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center. The UAC depends on contributions from users like you to support our work.

The information in this advisory is from the U.S. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.

Brett Kobernik will update this forecast on Saturday morning. Thanks for calling.


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 occur.


This advisory provided by the USDA Forest Service, in partnership with:

The Friends of the Utah Avalanche Center, Utah Division of State Parks and Recreation, Utah Division of Emergency Management, Salt Lake County, Salt Lake Unified Fire Authority and the friends of the La Sal Avalanche Center. See our Sponsors Page for a complete list.