Ogden Avalanche Advisory

Forecaster: Brett Kobernik

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 CONSIDERABLE on all mid and upper elevation steep slopes. Natural avalanches are possible and human triggered avalanches are likely on all aspects. Please be aware of what is below such as roads or people you if you are walking ridges as you may inadvertently trigger a dangerous avalanche. Quite dangerous conditions still exist in the backcountry.

CURRENT CONDITIONS

Overnight temperatures hovered around freezing with some stations in the low 30s and some in the upper 20s. Southwest winds picked up slightly over the last 8 hours. There was an amazing amount of settlement of the recent snow on Sunday and significant drainage channels were noted on the southerly facing slopes. You’ll find heat crusts on all aspects and elevations except the steeper more northerly aspects. Snow falling from trees and heat from the needles will have formed a crust under treed northerly aspects as well.

RECENT ACTIVITY

We had a very intense weekend of avalanches which, sadly, included a fatality on Saturday in the La Sal Mountains near Moab. DETAILS On Sunday, the rapid rise in temperatures created a natural avalanche cycle that included many large class 3 slab avalanches. (Crown in lower left - Ben Lomand, Wewer)

There were a handful of large and dangerous human triggered avalanches as well. (James Peak, Wewer)

More reports are filtering in from close calls on Saturday as well. You can see all the details on our AVALANCHE LIST.

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

The biggest and most widespread avalanche issue today will be slab avalanches breaking into persistent weak layers. I expect that we won’t see as much activity as yesterday. Moderate southwest winds will help counter act the warm temperatures. However, today will be slightly warmer than Sunday and this heat will continue to tug hard on our weak snowpack structure so I won’t be surprised to hear about more natural slab avalanches.

THREAT #2
WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 10 hours.

The same logic applies to the wet avalanche concern today as well. We already went through the first melt freeze cycle so activity should be less today but there is still plenty of weak snow on sunny aspects that the direct sun could make unstable producing size-able avalanches.

THREAT #3
WHERE PROBABILITY SIZE TREND
      Over the next 10 hours.

It’s that time of the year where cornices start to become sensitive with the warm temps. Give them a wide berth. Also, home owners should be careful around any roofs that didn’t avalanche on Sunday as they are likely to go today.

MOUNTAIN WEATHER

We’ll have mostly clear skies today and quite warm temperatures getting up into the mid 40s at 8000 feet. Southwest winds may increase a bit more in speed as the day progresses but they won’t get real strong. We’ll have increasing clouds on Tuesday ahead of a quick hitting cold front that will give us a few inches of snow and then we’re back to high pressure for the remainder of the week.

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 and Park City – 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.

Twitter Updates for your mobile phone http://utahavalanchecenter.org/twitter)

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

Wasatch Powderbird Guides does daily updates about where they'll be operating on this blog http://powderbird.blogspot.com/ .

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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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.