Ogden Avalanche Advisory

Forecaster: Drew Hardesty

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Stocking stuffers! We now have discount lift tickets available. Go to our Online Store or click this PURCHASE LINK to Backcountry.com who is distributing them for us. You can show your support by purchasing UAC hardgoods (great xmas gifts!!) through our Online Store from the main menu above. We offer free shipping on everything.

Bruce and I will be holding a "Fireside Chat" tonight at 7pm at the Black Diamond store on 3900 South. It'll be one part community forum, one part education/presentation.


BOTTOM LINE

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


Danger Rose Tutorial

Most terrain has a LOW avalanche danger. Pockets of Moderate danger stem from the potential for triggering larger - gouging-to-the-ground loose snow sluffs in the steepest rocky terrain. Isolated shallow pockets of wind slab are also present in the highest wind exposed terrain. Consequences from a ride in one of these remain severe due to the thin coverage.

CURRENT CONDITIONS

Skies are clear but the pattern should finally begin to break down with a storm due to arrive overnight and later tomorrow. Yes, you read that correctly. It's been a rough couple of months(Season history comparison since 1945) After all, our 64" so far dwarfs the meager 30" for Nov/Dec of 1976 and the 48" of 1962. We have nothing to complain about. A guy in Big Cottonwood who turns 50 tomorrow and still skis on leather boots and old Voile Mtn Surfs has been ecstatic about the conditions. Creativity and attitude will carry you through most things in life.

The northeasterly winds blew 25-30mph with gusts into the 30s yesterday on Mt. Ogden, but they've backed to the north and have dropped a few clicks on the anemometer. Temps are in the mid to upper teens up high.

RECENT ACTIVITY

We heard no reports of activity in the Ogden area mountains, but a party high on the Pfeifferhorn above 11,000' in mid-Little Cottonwood canyon reported some minor cracking and collapsing.

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

Normal caution should be applied while traveling in the backcountry today. I’m including a few pockets of a MODERATE avalanche danger to remind folks about the larger sluffs and the remote chance of finding a small slab to break out. We also heard about another intentionally triggered 10" deep by 40' wide soft slab on the Park City ridge line from Saturday. Still, these concerns are very isolated and pocket in nature and easy to mitigate with careful route finding and well executed slope cuts.

Note the Trend above. A forecast of 3-7" with periods of strong northerly winds later tomorrow will bump the danger and require recalibration of your route selection.

MOUNTAIN WEATHER

A cold - if brief - Pacific storm is due to arrive tomorrow bringing a few inches of snow, a quick spike in winds, and plummeting temps. Most areas should see upwards of 3-7" of snow by tomorrow afternoon through early Thursday. While energetic, poor orographic support, among other things, should keep snow amounts on the leaner side. Temps along the ridge lines will drop into the single digits after frontal passage. Perhaps most importantly, it'll stir up the soup that blankets the Wasatch front.

For today, we'll have another clear day with light to moderate northerly winds. Temps will be in the mid to upper 20s at 10,000' and mid to low 30s at 8000'.

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)

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

Daily observations are frequentlypostedby 10 pm each evening.

Subscribe to the daily avalanche advisory e-mail clickHERE.

UDOT canyon closuresUDOTat (801) 975-4838

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

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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.