Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Ogden Area Mountains Issued by Trent Meisenheimer for Tuesday - January 24, 2017 - 6:15am
bottom line

The avalanche danger is HIGH on all aspects and elevations. TRAVEL IN AVALANCHE TERRAIN IS NOT RECOMMENDED. You need stay off of and out from under steep terrain, and avoid avalanche runout zones. If you are stepping out of bounds at a resort, you are stepping into HIGH danger.

What is unusual today is the weak snow at the lower elevations. While avalanches may be smaller at low elevations, debris can still pile up dangerously deep in terrain traps such as gullies, creek beds, and below steep road banks. Today is not the day to walk or travel below any avalanche terrain.




avalanche warning

THE FOREST SERVICE UTAH AVALANCHE CENTER IN SALT LAKE CITY HAS EXTENDED THE BACKCOUNTRY AVALANCHE WARNING.

* TIMING...IN EFFECT THROUGH 6AM WEDNESDAY.

* AFFECTED AREA...FOR THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTHERN UTAH INCLUDING THE WASATCH RANGE...WESTERN UINTA MOUNTAINS...BEAR RIVER RANGE...AND THE MOUNTAINS OF SOUTHEAST IDAHO.

* AVALANCHE DANGER...HIGH.

* REASON/IMPACTS...HEAVY DENSE SNOW COMBINED WITH STRONG WINDS HAS CREATED WIDESPREAD AREAS OF UNSTABLE SNOW AT ALL ELEVATIONS INCLUDING LOW ELEVATION TERRAIN. BOTH HUMAN TRIGGERED AND NATURAL AVALANCHES ARE LIKELY. STAY OFF OF AND OUT FROM UNDER SLOPES STEEPER THAN 30 DEGREES.
special announcement

Little Cottonwood Canyon and MANY other mountain passes are closed this morning. The canyon roads will be changing backcountry closures, and updates will be issued all day. You need to follow @UDOTavy or us on twitter, or check the UDOT info on our home page. UDOT commuter link found here.

If you sign up for AmazonSmile and designate the Utah Avalanche Center as your favorite charity, they will donate a portion of everything you spend to the UAC. I doesn't cost you a penny and we'd really appreciate the help.

New Date for this! Drew will be hosting the Fireside Chat at the Black Diamond store this Wednesday at 7pm. Topic: Expert Intuition in High Risk - Low Frequency Events. Best if you have a decent grasp of the different avalanche problems, but all are welcome to this informal, low key, picnic - style gathering.

current conditions

What a storm - 36 hr snow totals are:

  • Upper Cottonwoods are 20-30 inches of snow with (1.5"-2.5" h20) Storm total since last Thursday of 70"-75" of snow (5.0"-5.5" h20)
  • Parkcity ridge line 15-20 inches of snow (1.45"-1.75" h20)
  • Ogden area mountains 20-30 inches of snow with (1.5"-2.5" h20)
  • Provo area mountains 15-22 inches of snow with (1.75" - 2.94" h20) with a storm total of 35"-45" of snow (4"-4.5" h20)

Under a northwest flow this morning temperatures are in the upper teens at many trailheads and single digits at upper elevations. Yesterday the southwest winds shifted to the northwest as a cold front pushed through around 2:00 pm. Upper elevation wind speeds on Ogden peak are from the southwest 15-20 mph with the occasional gust into the upper 20's.

Trail breaking is a chore and the snow was reported to be upside down. Riding and turning will get better with time as the snow settles.

recent activity

Yesterday mid-morning from the heavy snow and strong south winds we experienced a natural avalanche cycle on many aspects and elevations. Avalanche control teams had their hands full and many reported avalanches up to size 3 on the destructive scale (size 3 means - could bury, kill a human, destroy a car, damage a truck, destroy a wood frame house or break trees). Avalanches were running fast and long distances.

On the way down from Powder Mountain a car was buried by an avalanche when UDOT was trying to clear and close the highway. The car was buried with people inside, UDOT quickly responded to the scene and evacuated the trapped people - nobody was injured in the avalanche.

Backcountry travelers reported collapsing and cracking and took note of many natural avalanches. Click here to read more recent observations.

Photo: Control results from UDOT in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Photo: Bill Brandt from Cutler Ridge. Read ob 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 will be found both along the ridgelines and in open bowls, cross loaded around sub ridges and break overs in mid and upper elevation terrain. Smaller slabs can be found well into the lower elevation terrain. I don't expect to see many, if any, natural avalanches today caused by wind. Most of these monster wind slabs are just waiting for a trigger and will be very sensitive to human triggers. These wind slabs will be hard to identify with 5-10" of powder snow now covering them up.

VERY DANGEROUS AVALANCHE CONDITIONS. Travel in avalanche terrain in NOT recommended. Avoid being on or under any terrain approaching 30 degrees in steepness.

Photo: Mark White showing a wind slab from the Wasatch, Scotts Hill, 9700’.
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 wind-sheltered terrain, the dense new snow has formed a slab over the low-density powder from the past few days. Avalanches can be triggered in sheltered areas.

Avalanche Problem 3
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

The persistent faceted layer we are most concerned about is the snow that was on the surface last week. It’s most widespread in more sheltered, mid to low elevation terrain. Slides breaking on this layer will only be slightly deeper than new snow slides, but more tricky. They could be triggered remotely from a distance or from below, or they can be stubborn and break above you when you’re mid slope. Also, a smaller new snow slide could step down, creating a deeper, wider and more dangerous avalanche. Collapsing is a sure sign of instability.

Heads up! - what is unusual today is the weak snow at the lower elevations. You will find a variety of buried thin and thick crusts, some with associated facets. These could act as weak layers or bed surfaces, and distribution is complicated. While avalanches there may be smaller, debris can still pile up dangerously deep in terrain traps such as gullies, creek beds, and below steep road banks. For now let the lower elevations also adjust to their new load.
weather

We will remain under a cold northwest flow for today and tomorrow. A small storm will move into the mountains this afternoon bringing snow flurries at times with accumulations of 2-5 inches of snow. Winds will remain light out of the north west and average 10-20 mph with occasional gust into the 20's at mid to upper elevations. Tonight snow will taper off ahead of another small storm that will bring similar snow flurries to the mountains on Wednesday. Temperatures will remain cold into Thursday, with a warming trend and high pressure to follow on Friday.
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!

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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.