Ogden Avalanche Advisory

Forecaster: Bruce Tremper

BOTTOM LINE

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


Danger Rose Tutorial

You will find pockets of Level 2 (MODERATE) avalanche danger on any slope approaching 35 degrees or steeper with deposits of wind drifted snow. There are also pockets of Level 2 (MODERATE) danger of wet sluffs on steep slopes as they get soggy in the heat of the sun. Otherwise, the danger is Level 1 (LOW).

CURRENT CONDITIONS

The snow is looking like Keith Richards--old, worn out and declining fast. There is extensive wind damage at upper and mid elevations on many different aspects. The southerly facing slopes and low elevation slopes are soggy and/or crusted. And yes, you can still find some nice, smooth, creamy, faceted snow that rides like powder on the lower and some mid elevation, sun and wind sheltered slopes .

RECENT ACTIVITY

Yesterday, there were hoards of eager beavers jumping into all kinds of extreme terrain with only limited activity. But as you might imagine with all that volunteer stability testing, there were a couple close calls. None occurred in the Wasatch Range but in the Unita Mountains in the Moffit Basin area, we heard a second-hand report of 3 snowmobilers caught with one completely buried for 10 minutes and was unconcious when his fast-acting partners located and dug him out. He apparently recovered and got out on his own.

Second, there is a great helmet cam vido of a snowmobiler in the Logan area mountains near Tony Grove that walked up to the edge of a cornice (Noooo, don't do it!). He triggered the cornice and he slid a short distance down the slope with the cornice. Luckily, it did not trigger a slab so it was a good learning experience. And thanks to his posting, we can all share the experience vicariously, which is the best way to trigger cornices.

THREAT #1
WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 24 hours.

The strong winds these past days have created widespread areas of wind damage at all the upper elevation terrain and much of the mid elevations as well. The resulting wind slabs feel suspicous--hollow, slabby and cracky--but they don't seem very reactive. Yesterday, hundreds of people tested them, many in extreme terrain where there is zero tolerance for error, and at least in the Wasatch Range, we did not hear about anyone going for a ride. So that's a good sign.

The winds are supposed to blow hard on Tuesday and Wednesday, so expect the wind slab problems to get worse.

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

Temperatures will be very warm once again today, so localized wet sluffs will continue to occur on the steep, sun exposed slopes especially at lower and mid elevations. As usual, stay off of and out from underneath steep slopes when they are getting soggy in the heat of the sun.

MOUNTAIN WEATHER

Today will be the last nice day for awhile and once again, ridge top temperatures will be near 40 degrees with sunny skies and a moderate wind from the southwest. On Tuesday and Wednesday, winds from the southwest should blow quite strong, over 50 mph in advance of a sharp cold front on Wednesday night.

The storm on Wednesday and Thursday should give us about a foot of new snow and cool temperatures to seasonal norms. Then it looks like out weather is changing to a wetter pattern with another, potentially larger, storm for late 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

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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.