Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Ogden Area Mountains Issued by Evelyn Lees for Saturday - January 31, 2015 - 6:47am
bottom line

The avalanche danger is generally LOW in the Ogden area mountains. Still, be alert for and avoid any new wind drifts that form as the wind speeds pick up today, especially along the upper elevation ridge lines. Even a small slide can have serious consequences in radical terrain, if it takes you for a long ride or through rocks, trees and cliffs.
special announcement

Learning about snow and avalanches never ends. The more you learn, the more you realize there is to learn. We still have space in our Advanced Avalanche Skills Workshop with Bruce Tremper on February 5th (evening) and 7th (on snow around the Brighton perimeter) and the Snowbasin Freeride Avalanche Summit, organized by Craig Gordon, the afternoon of February 7, followed by 2 days on snow – February 8th and 9th. Find them listed on our education page.

RESEARCH PROJECT ON UNDERSTANDING TRAVEL BEHAVIOR IN AVALANCHE TERRAIN NEEDS YOU!
Scientists from the Snow and Avalanche Lab at Montana State University are seeking more participants for their project examining decision making and travel in avalanche terrain. Their project aims to collect GPS location information (from your smartphone) and survey responses from backcountry skiers and riders to better understand what types of terrain are used and how decisions are made. Their focus is on backcountry skiers and riders of all abilities and experience.

For more information: www.montana.edu/snowscience/tracks For snowmobilers: www.montana.edu/snowscience/sleds
current conditions

A few final snowflakes are drifting down this morning, as skies clear from the north. The Park City and Provo area mountains received 2 to 3 inches of snow from the southeasterly flow, with only a trace to an inch recorded in the Ogden and Salt Lake area mountains. Temperatures in the Ogden area mountains are in the mid 20s to low 30s this morning, and the winds very light from a northeasterly direction.

There is not much soft snow left between the old tracks, sun and wind crusts, and what there is will be found on shady slopes above about 9,000’. The crusts will be slow to soften today, so there is some “slide for life” potential on steep, icy slopes, especially in the lower elevations of the Ogden area mountains, where the rain/snow line started out around 7,000’ on Wednesday.

recent activity

No avalanches were reported from the backcountry yesterday.
Avalanche Problem 1
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

While the avalanche danger is generally LOW in the Ogden area mountains, be alert for any fresh wind drifts as the wind speeds pick up. If new drifts form, they will be found on a variety of aspects, and be most sensitive on the more northerly facing slopes, where they will be sitting on weaker faceted old snow. Dense slabby snow or cracking are indications you’ve found a sensitive wind drift.

Out of the wind affect terrain, small sluffs could be triggered on steep, upper elevation shady slopes, and damp sluffs may become possible as the day heats up.
weather

The “storm” will quickly depart this morning, with mostly clear skies by this afternoon. Temperatures along the high ridge lines will be in the twenties today, with 8,000’ temperatures warming into the mid to upper 30s. The northeasterly winds will increase this morning, into the 10 to 20 mph range, with the higher ridge lines averaging to 25 mph, with gusts in the 30s. Mostly clear skies tonight and tomorrow, as high pressure once again takes control.

general announcements

Remember your information can save lives. If you see anything we should know about, please participate in the creation of our own community avalanche advisory by submitting snow and avalanche conditions. You can also call us at 801-524-5304, email by clicking HERE, or include #utavy in your tweet or Instagram.

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), Canyons Resort Dispatch (435-615-3322)

Snowbasin Resort Dispatch (801-620-1017), Powder Mountain Dispatch (801-745-3772 x 123).

Sundance Dispatch (801-223-4150)

EMAIL ADVISORY  If you would like to get the daily advisory by email you will need to subscribe here.​ 

DAWN PATROL Hotline updated daily by 5-530am - 888-999-4019 option 8.

Twitter Updates for your mobile phone - DETAILS

UDOT canyon closures:  LINK TO UDOT, or on Twitter, follow @UDOTavy, @CanyonAlerts or @AltaCentral

Utah Avalanche Center mobile app - Get your advisory on your iPhone along with great navigation and rescue tools.

Wasatch Powderbird Guides Blog/Itinerary for the Day.  

Lost or Found something in the backcountry? - http://nolofo.com/

Ski Utah mobile snow updates

Discount lift tickets are now available at Backcountry.com.  Thanks to Ski Utah and the Utah Resorts.  All proceeds go towards paying for Utah Avalanche Center avalanche and mountain weather advisories.

To those skinning uphill at resorts:  it is your responsibility to know the resort policy on uphill travel.  You can see the uphill travel policy for each resort here. IMPORTANT: Before skinning or hiking at a resort under new snow conditions, check in with Ski Patrol.  Resorts can restrict or cut off access if incompatible with control and grooming operations.

Benefit the Utah Avalanche Center when you shop from Backcountry.com or REI:  Click this link for Backcountry.com or this link to REI, shop, and they will donate a percent of your purchase price to the UAC.  Both offer free shipping (with some conditions) so this costs you nothing!

Benefit the Utah Avalanche Center when you buy or sell on ebay - set the Utah Avalanche Center as a favorite non-profit in your ebay account here and click on ebay gives when you buy or sell.  You can choose to have your seller fees donated to the UAC, which doesn't cost you a penny.

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 exist.