Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Ogden Area Mountains Issued by Mark Staples for Thursday - January 25, 2018 - 7:00am
bottom line

With strong winds blowing since yesterday afternoon at all elevations, the avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE at the upper elevations with both wind slab and persistent slab avalanches likely. A MODERATE danger exist at mid and low elevations.
special announcement

Powder Mountain has their Beacon Training Park up and running near Hidden Lake. Grab your transciever and head over to test your rescue skills!

TONIGHT, Fireside Chat at 7 p.m. at Black Diamond. Evelyn Lees discusses avalanche accidents when people were traveling Uphill and/or "Solo" over the past 8 winters.
current conditions

It’s warm and windy this morning with temperatures in the mid to upper 30’s in most areas. Above 9000 ft, temperatures are in the upper 20’s F.

Winds are averaging 20-40 mph and gusting to 50 mph from the SSW. On Ogden Peak winds are gusting to 70 mph.
recent activity

Yesterday an Ogden area ski patrol triggered a 50’x50’ avalanche that broke 8-14 inches deep on an E-facing slope that had been cross loaded by S winds. On Monday a skier easily triggered several wind drifts on Cutler Ridge after a brief spike in winds.
Avalanche Problem 1
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 12 hours
description

Strong S and SW winds have been blowing since yesterday. Even though many S facing slopes have developed an ice crust on them from the last two days of sunny weather, these strong winds will find snow to transport and form fresh wind slabs. These wind slabs should be easy to trigger today, but they may also make triggering deeper and large avalanches more likely. See below.
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

The snowpack, mainly on ones with a northerly aspect at mid and upper elevations, contains weak faceted snow generally above a very hard layer of snow/ice (you'll know when you hit it with your shovel). These faceted layers of weak snow are generally buried 1-3 feet deep depending on elevation. Today's wind's will be cross loading some slopes and top loading others. This wind loading will add stress to these buried faceted layers and make them more likely to fracture and produce an avalanche.
weather

Strong SW winds and warm temperatures will continue until a cold front arrives this afternoon around 2 p.m. It will bring snowfall, decreasing winds and a sharp temperature drop. Temperatures will only rise a few degrees before the cold front arrives. There should be 3-6 inches of snow by tomorrow morning. Temperatures tonight will drop to near 10 degrees F.
general announcements

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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 occur.