Ogden Avalanche Advisory

Forecaster: Brett Kobernik

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

We've issued a Special Avalanche Advisory through the National Weather Service. Recent new snow over the last few days has covered up some very weak snow formed earlier in the week which has produced widespread avalanche activity. This weakness is expected to be active again today with human triggered avalanches likely on slopes approaching 30 degrees and steeper.


BOTTOM LINE

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


Danger Rose Tutorial

Watch what you're doing out there today people! A CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger remains. Think about who may be below you and pay attention to where you put your up tracks by avoiding people who may be above you. Experienced people should be able to manage the conditions with ski cuts and snow pit testing to reveal whether weakness is present. Less experienced folks should avoid being on or below slopes of about 30 degrees and steeper.


CURRENT CONDITIONS

Well, the dirty ridge has been down right filthy producing quite a bit more snow over the last few days then originally expected. A few more inches of snow fell early last night bringing storm totals into the 10 to 20 inch range from the Ogden mountains through the Salt Lake and Park City area mountains. Provo came up short with minimal new snow. The snow was a medium to heavy density with a good amount of rimed grains or small "graupel". West and northwest winds blew moderate to strong on Saturday drifting snow quite a bit. They have since slowed down overnight. Mountain temperatures are generally around 20 degrees. Riding conditions were excellent on Saturday!


RECENT ACTIVITY

There was widespread avalanche activity reported from Saturday with both natural and human triggered avalanches. These involved all the new snow from the past few days that is sitting on surface hoar and weak near surface facets formed early in the week. I don't think I received one observation that didn't include a human triggered soft slab. The avalanches were 6 to 24 inches deep and some of them were a couple of hundred feet wide. They occurred on a variety of aspects including south facing slopes. Many of these avalanches broke and ran on low angled slopes of around 30 degrees or so. For experienced people, this was a manageable situation with the weakness easily identified in snow pits and ski cuts were very effective in revealing the weakness as well. Shovel tilt tests are an excellent tool to use for this structure. (Test from Saturday)


THREAT #1

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

With the new snow sitting on what we call a persistent weakness, I expect to hear of human triggered avalanches again today. Things won't be quite as sensitive as yesterday but most likely won't settle out as fast as just a new snow instability would. Areas where the winds have drifted snow into deeper slabs is the biggest and most widespread concern today. This will be in the mid and upper elevations and most pronounced on any slope that has an easterly component including slopes that have gotten cross loaded.


THREAT #2

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

You will need to pay attention out of the wind effected areas as well today. In many sheltered areas the buried surface hoar is more pronounced and may still produce soft slabs that are sensitive to a person.


THREAT #3

WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

Lastly, we can't forget about our old nemesis, the deep slab. Combine the weight of the new snow and a trigger, namely a person, and this might be enough to get something to break into old weak snow near the ground. Areas with a thin snowpack are the most suspect especially on the more northerly aspects.


MOUNTAIN WEATHER

We'll have partly to mostly cloudy skies today with light northwest winds along the mid elevations and moderate speeds in the more exposed locations. Ridgetop temperatures should climb into the mid 20s. We may see a flurry or two today. We could see another minor disturbance that could produce snow flurries again late tonight into Monday.


GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Please contact Alta Central (801-742-2033) if you trigger a large avalanche in the backcountry, especially if you are adjacent to a ski area, to alert them to the slide and whether anyone is missing or not. Rescue teams can be exposed to significant hazard when responding to avalanches, and do not want to do so when unneeded. Thanks.

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.

Wasatch Powderbird Guides flight plan.

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

Daily observations are frequently posted by 10 pm each evening.

Free UAC iPhone app from Canyon Sports.

Subscribe to the daily avalanche advisory e-mail click HERE.

UDOT canyon closures UDOT at (801) 975-4838

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

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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.

We will update this forecast tomorrow 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.