Ogden Avalanche Advisory

Forecaster: Evelyn Lees

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

The FUAC is auctioning off a pair of 176 cm Black Diamond Drift skis with custom Utah Avalanche Center graphics as a fundraiser. Go to Ebay and search for item320647801970 for photos and to bid.

There are just a few lift tickets left - to Sundance, Wolf Mountain and Brianhead ski resorts – 100% of the sale of these donated tickets goes to support the Utah Avalanche Center.

BOTTOM LINE

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


Danger Rose Tutorial

The avalanche danger is Level 2 (Moderate) on the mid and upper elevation slopes facing northwest through east, where slab avalanches 1 ½ to 2 feet deep, 100 to 200 feet wide, can be triggered in isolated places. There are pockets of Level 2 (Moderate) danger for triggering a fresh wind drift on steep slopes. With a storm on the way, expect a slowly increasing avalanche danger tonight through Tuesday.

CURRENT CONDITIONS

Under partly cloudy skies, temperatures range from 20 degrees along the high ridges to near thirty at 8,000’. The air mass is warmer in the Ogden and Provo area mountains, with readings generally in the mid twenties to mid thirties. At weather stations favored by the southwest flow, winds speeds have increased into the 25 to 30 mph range, with gusts to 45. Elsewhere, 10 to 20 mph averages with gusts into the 30’s are more common.

Frozen crusts blanket the sunny slopes, and it probably won’t warm enough today for them to soften. On the shaded, protected northerly facing slopes, conditions vary from excellent turning, riding and snowshoeing in a thick layer of soft, recrystallized powder to areas where the icy, hard rain crust is totally exposed.

RECENT ACTIVITY

No new avalanches were reported yesterday, but reports of isolated collapsing continue. For a great way to look at the history of recent avalanches in the Ogden area mountains, go to theOgden Table View.

THREAT #1
WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 12 hours.

Once again, the main concern is triggering a slab avalanche one to two feet deep up to two hundred feet wide, failing on the surface hoar buried a ways beneath the icy rain crust. There are only isolated places where the weight of a person could trigger one of these slides, and it would be most likely be where the crust is buried a foot or more deep, and is thin or degraded and weakened.

Digging snow pits and doing tests is about as fun as it gets these days - recent excellent video clips from observers show what “full propagation” and “Quality 1” shears look like. HERE and HERE.

Very likely, our next persistent weak layer of near surface facets and surface hoar is today’s current snow surface, just waiting to be buried. As you’re out and about today, make mental notes of its distribution - most widespread on mid and upper elevation shady, protected slopes.

THREAT #2
WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

No matter what their general direction is, the winds get channeled through the mountain terrain, and will have found some snow to blow around along the ridgelines. Fresh wind drifts will have formed, and will be sensitive to slope cuts on steep slopes, especially where the drifts land on weak surface snow rather than sun crusts.

MOUNTAIN WEATHER

A series of small storms will bring snow to northern Utah starting late today through Tuesday. There will be increasing clouds today, with a chance for a trace to a few inches of snow late in the afternoon through tonight. The best chance for snow will be Monday, with 4 to 8 inches possible. High temperatures today will be in the low 30’s at 8,000’ and the low 20’s at 10,000’. This morning’s brisk southwesterly winds will decrease during the day and then switch to the northwest tonight. A second and colder storm will bring additional light snow Monday through Tuesday, and drop temperatures into the single digits to below zero. In the long range, there will be a rapid return to high pressure lasting Wednesday through next weekend.

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

If you trigger an avalanche in the backcountry - especially if you are adjacent to a ski area – please call the following teams 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.

Salt Lake – Alta Central (801-742-2033)

Ogden – Snowbasin Patrol Dispatch (801-620-1017)

Provo – Sundance Patrol Dispatch (801-223-4150)

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.

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.

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

UDOT canyon closures UDOT at (801) 975-4838

You have the opportunity to participate in the creation of our own community avalanche advisory by submitting avalanche and snow observations. You can also call us at 801-524-5304 or 800-662-4140, or email by clicking HERE

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. 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.