Ogden Avalanche Advisory

Forecaster: Bruce Tremper

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

UDOT will be testing artillery in Little Cottonwood Canyon on 2/11/11. Stay clear of avalanche paths on the north side of the road from Cardiff Pk to Lisa Falls until 0830. This means mid canyon up to Alta. Closure Time: Friday, February 11, 2011 - 6:00am Anticipated Re-Opening: Friday, February 11, 2011 - 8:30am (You can always find this information in the upper left corner of our website at www.utahavalanchecenter.org. or on the Snow Page.)

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 mostly LOW (Level 1) there are localized pockets of MODERATE (Level 2) danger for wet sluffs on southerly facing slopes as the day heats up, a few lingering wind slabs in wind exposed terrain, and possibly a few deep, persistent slabs in more extreme terrain.

CURRENT CONDITIONS

Yet another day in paradise. Skies are clear, temperatues have remained cold enough to preserve the fine powder on the sun and wind sheltered slopes. But the sunny aspects have gotten crusty. Ridge top temperatures will get up near freezing with light winds. The last storm left about a foot of powder in the Cottonwood Canyons with half that amount outside of the Cottonwoods.

RECENT ACTIVITY

Just when Iwas thinking that things were getting a little dull around here, yesterday Craig Gordon found a very large, snowmobiler triggered avalanche in the Uinta Mountains that occurred either yesterday or late Wednesday. It was in upper Chalk Creek near a slope locals call 19 turns (Craig calls it 119 turns). It was triggered from a distance and breaking below January rain crust on perfectly preserved surface hoar layer. The slide was was 2.5 - 4 ft deep and 600 ft. wide, pulling out snow on a low angle 22 degree ridge. Yikes! Because of terrain features, including a gullied terrain trap, the avalanche only ran a few hundred feet vertically. Craig will have photos posted this morning in Current Conditions.

Also, Brett Kobernik investigated the slide on Ant Knolls that happened on Tuesday and posted some comments and photos.

THREAT #1
WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 10 hours.

As temperatues warm to freezing on the ridge tops, we may see a few more damp or wet sluffs on the steep, sun exposed slopes. We will expect these will be mostly minor and small and occur in the heat of the day.

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

Although most of the wind slabs created by strong winds earlier in the week have settled out, you still may be able to trigger some localized, lingering wind drifts. As always, be cautious of steep slopes with recent wind deposits.

THREAT #3
WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

I know we sound like a broken record, but persistent slabs earmed their name for a reason and the slide in the Uinta Mountains proves the point. Although the Uinta Mountains are always more unstable than the Wasatch Range because of their thinner snowpack, colder temperatures and stronger winds, we may still find some lingering booby traps in the Wasatch as people push into more extreme terrain. They are difficult to trigger, but if you do, they will be large and scarry avalanches.

MOUNTAIN WEATHER

Another day of yawner weather with sunny skies, light winds and temperatues warming up to freezing on the ridge tops. Temperatues will continue to warm over the weekend as a high pressure ridge builds in to our area. Although the winds will be light today, southwesterly ridge top winds will blow about 25 mph on Saturday.

The extended forecast calls for clear and warm weather until about next Thursday.

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.