Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Ogden Area Mountains Issued by Mark Staples for Saturday - March 19, 2016 - 7:17am
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Today you can find generally safe avalanche conditions on many slopes. However there is a MODERATE avalanche danger on upper elevation slopes with wind slabs. Also, as the day progresses the danger will rise to MODERATE due to loose wet avalanches.




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current conditions

Yesterday remained surprisingly cool. Slopes shaded from the sun and wind still have dry, soft snow. High temperatures yesterday reached the upper 30's to low 40's F though it felt a lot warmer in the sun. This morning tempertures at most elevations are in the low to mid 20's F. Winds are blowing 5-10 mph from the WNW with some gusts of 20 mph. A good summary of conditions can be found in recent obs HERE.

recent activity

Yesterday there was some notable avalanche activity. One was a skier-triggered wind slab in the mountains above Bountiful. It was 14 inches deep and 80 feet wide. Additionally a sizable avalanche caught 4 snowmobilers near Logan yesterday. Three were partially buried and one was fully buried but quickly rescued by his partners. Read more here.

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

Wind slabs can be tricky. They become a little more stable each day but some stablize faster than others. Some wind slabs are resting on a few different layers including graupel and possibly some small facets which may be the reason people are still able to trigger them. Slopes with wind loading and some of these funky layers underneath are places to possibly trigger an avalanche.

Avalanche Problem 2
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 12 hours
description

Today should be noticeably warmer than yesterday. Cool winds yesterday prevented the snow from warming up much but that should change today. Watch for loose wet snow avalanches mostly on east, south and west aspects and under exposed rocks. Even north facing slopes may see wet snow at lower elevations as temperatures rise today.

Wet avalanches are all about timing. Conditions can change rapidly from hard frozen snow, to soft snow with decent riding, to wet and unstable snow very quickly. Increasing numbers of small roller balls of snow as in the photo below indicate that the snow is getting wet and losing strength.

Photo: B. Tremper

weather

Today will be warmer and calmer than yesterday with temperatures at 9000 feet reaching the upper 30's F and temperatures at 7-8,000 feet reaching 50 degrees F. Winds will calm a bit and blow about 5 mph. Similar conditions are expected Sunday, but winds should increase late Sunday as a storm with colder weather approaches.

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.

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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.