Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Ogden Area Mountains Issued by Mark Staples for Sunday - March 20, 2016 - 7:21am
bottom line

This morning the avalanche danger will start LOW on slopes at low and mid elevations. Watch for wind slabs at upper elevations where the avalanche danger is MODERATE. Also, the avalanche danger due to loose wet snow will rise to MODERATE as the morning heats up.
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current conditions

This morning temperatures in most places are a few degrees either side of freezing. Yesterday's high temperatures were in the mid to upper 40's F though it felt a lot warmer in the strong sunshine. Winds this morning are blowing 10 mph from the SW gusting to 15 mph.

Strong winds from the west and north occurred in the middle of last week and redristrubed the new snow that fell Monday and Tuesday. Strong sunshine during the last 3 days melted the snow surface on most E, S and W aspects which have an ice crust this morning. Soft snow can still be found on high elevation NE and NW aspects. The trick to finding soft snow is finding slopes sheltered from both the sun and wind. Read more about current conditions in this great ob from the backcountry near Snowbasin.

There are a few different weak layers of snow buried 1-1.5 feet deep. What formed these layers? How is snow on north aspects still dry? Read this short blog post.
recent activity

Yesterday a small wet slab was triggered in Toledo Bowl just east of Mt Superior in Little Cottonwood Canyon on a south facing slope at 3 in the afternoon. It was 10-15 feet wide and ran 100 feet. While not a huge avalanche, it is a good reminder to "Stay alert out there on these warm, sunny afternoons on south-facing terrain."

Also, there has been notable avalanche activity near Logan where more snow fell early this week. While not too relevant at the moment, these slides may be a good indication of what may occur in the mountains near Ogden, Salt Lake City, and Provo if we get a bunch of snow this coming week. Photo below from J. Jensen of a cornice triggered slide yesterday about 3 feet deep near Tony Grove.
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

Most wind slabs should have gained strength and stabilized during the last few days. However, some may rest on weak layers buried 1-1.5 feet deep. A skier triggered a wind slab 14 inches deep and 80 feet wide in the mountains near Bountiful on Friday.
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 even warmer than yesterday with more strong sunshine. Fortunately, the snowpack has adjusted well to warm weather and there has been minimal wet snow avalanche activity. Slopes that got wet yesterday should be frozen this morning, but they should soften quickly and become wet this morning. Loose wet snow avalanches will mostly occur on south aspects and near exposed rocks. With such warm temperatures, even north aspects at low and mid elevations could become unstable.

Wet avalanches are all about timing. Pinwheels and roller balls like in the photo below are good indications that the snow is getting wet and that loose wet snow avalanches may occur.

Photo: M. White
weather

Today will be even warmer than yesterday with mountain temperatures easily climbing into the 50's F. Winds should increase some today and blow 10-20 mph from the SW. Monday will be a little cooler and Tuesday will be noticeably colder when a cold front passes over Utah. Snowfall should begin late Monday night and continue through Tuesday.
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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DAWN PATROL Hotline updated daily by 5-530am - 888-999-4019 option 8.

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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. 

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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.