Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Ogden Area Mountains Issued by Mark Staples for Tuesday - March 15, 2016 - 7:19am
bottom line

On upper elevation slopes the avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE where you will find many fresh wind slabs that could be easy to trigger. At mid elevations the avalanche danger is MODERATE where you can still find some wind slabs.
special announcement

PLEASE HELP guide our discussions of website maintenance, upgrades or possible changes in coming years. Take this brief survey. As a way of saying thanks we'll be raffling a free avalanche class and other free stuff like hats, beanies, water bottles, etc.

Do you need lift tickets to Snowbird, Snowbasin, Sundance, or Nordic Valley? Purchase them HERE at reduced prices. Every penny on these donated tickets benefits the Utah Avalanche Center.

Check out our Garage Sale! Chock full of sweet backcountry gear - you can find the goods on our Facebook page here.​
current conditions

Yesterday had crazy weather especially in the Ogden area where some valley locations received heavy rain and lightning. This morning, however, it's great to see winter come back for a visit.

  • At 8000 feet temperatures are around 20 degrees F and in the teens F near 9000 feet.
  • Since yesterday morning another 5-7 inches of snow fell bringing storm totals to 8-10 inches of snow averaging about an inch of water content. The most snow fell near Powder Mountain with storm totals of 14 inches of snow containing 1.75 inches of water.
  • Winds are blowing 10 mph gusting 20 mph from the W and NW.
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

Winds yesterday blew from the WSW and this morning they are blowing generally from the WNW. Initial reports from avalanche professionals are that there is a good bond between the new snow and old snow and that wind slabs seemed unreactive. They should bond more today and get harder to trigger. For now however, I would assume that all wind slabs will be easy to trigger until you get a chance to test a few of them on small slopes.
Avalanche Problem 2
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

Even in places without any wind loading, I would assess the bond between the new snow and the old snow. The good news is that this is easy to do by jumping on small, steep test slopes. Also, walk or ride above your partner's tracks and see if the snow cracks or slides easily into their tracks
weather

Today, snowfall may linger through the morning but increase a bit this afternoon and evening and deliver another 3-5 inches of snow by tomorrow morning. Temperatures will climb a few degrees today but should remain in the teens F above 9000 feet. Winds should blow 10-20 mph generally from the west before shifting to the NW this evening.
general announcements

Remember your information can save lives. If you see anything we should know about, please help us out 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.

To get help in an emergency (to request a rescue) in the Wasatch, call 911.  Be prepared to give your GPS coordinates or the run name. Dispatchers have a copy of the Wasatch Backcountry Ski map.

Backcountry Emergencies. It outlines your step-by-step method in the event of a winter backcountry incident.

If you trigger an avalanche in the backcountry, but no one is hurt and you do not need assistance, please notify the nearest ski area dispatch to avoid a needless response by rescue teams. Thanks.

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.

Powderbird Helicopter Skiing - Blog/itinerary for the day  

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

Ski Utah mobile snow updates

To those skinning uphill at resorts:  it is critical to know the resort policy on uphill travel.  You can see the uphill travel policy for each resort here. 

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.