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| Advisory: Ogden Area Mountains | Issued by Evelyn Lees for Friday - December 18, 2015 - 7:07am |
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bottom line The avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE on upper elevation slopes facing northwest through easterly and steeper than about 30 degrees. Human triggered slides are possible, and can be triggered remotely from a distance. Other steep slopes have a MODERATE danger of triggering new snow slides, wind drifts or wet sluffs.
Low angle terrain is the place to recreate in the backcountry -whether you are riding, turning, snowshoeing or sledding.
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special announcement Buy discount lift tickets to Utah resorts and benefit the Utah Avalanche Center! Details here |
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current conditions It is downright balmy out, with temperatures in the Ogden area mountains an astonishing 15 degrees warmer than yesterday morning. Most stations are in the 20s, with teens along the high ridge lines. hopefully this event will miss the Ogden area mountains. The southwesterly winds are light, less than 20 mph. In parts of the Salt Lake mountains, it’s precipitating a mix of frozen rain and rime, crusting the snow surface. Elsewhere, the snow has settled, and been thickened by the wind on many aspects and even crusted a bit on the steeper sunny slopes. |
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recent activity The lack of avalanche activity in the Ogden area mountains is down right spooky. No naturals were observed, and resort avalanche reduction work had few results. The same weak facets are sitting on the ground as elsewhere in the northern Utah mountains, it seems enough weight or a slab are the missing ingredients. If you are heading to any of the other northern Utah mountains, read their area specific advisories. Just for comparison, the Park City ridge line basically came unglued yesterday - naturals occurred overnight and midday in Dutch Draw, and slides were remotely triggered in No Name, Scotts, Radar Love and South Monitor (1000' wide by 4’ deep), all failing on facets near the ground. Details on the avalanche page. Left: South Monitor slide, Mark White photo Right: Scotts Bowl, Grant photo
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| type | aspect/elevation | characteristics |
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LIKELIHOOD
 LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
 LARGE
SMALL
TREND
 INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
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description
While there were some spectacular avalanches in northern Utah yesterday, unfortunately most slopes in the Ogden area mountains are still just waiting for a load. Some of these tempting slopes could be triggered by a person. Overnight, the southwesterly winds did pick up for several hours along the high ridge lines, with averages in the 35 to 45 mph range. Steep slopes facing northwest through north through east are NOT the place to be – if you did trigger a slide - probably on a wind loaded slope - the slide would probably break to the ground. Slides can be triggered from a distance or from below, and tracks on a slope are not a sign of stability. If you hear a collapsing or whoomphing sound, you are in the danger zone - get off of and out from under steep slopes. |
| type | aspect/elevation | characteristics |
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LIKELIHOOD
 LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
 LARGE
SMALL
TREND
 INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
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description
Rapid warming today may trigger wet sluffs at the lower elevations and on a few steep sunny slopes if the skies clear. Roofs may start to shed their snow in both the valleys and mountain towns, resulting in piles of snow deep enough to bury a person. |
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weather It should be a pleasant break today, with gradually clearing skies and very warm temperatures – highs near 40 degrees at 8,000’ and near 30 along the ridge lines. The southwesterly winds will remain moderate, averaging 15 to 25 mph, gusting in the 30s, with the highest peaks averaging to 35 mph. Overnight, the winds will ramp up ahead of the next storm that could give us a descent shot of snow Saturday night. Next week continues to look very stormy - warm, windy and wet, with periods of heavy snowfall. |
general announcements
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