Forecast: Ogden Area Mountains - Utah Avalanche Center

Forecast for the Ogden Area Mountains

Issued by Drew Hardesty on
Monday morning, December 21, 2020

A CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger remains on many slopes at the upper elevations. A MODERATE danger exists in the mid-elevation bands. Human triggered avalanches 1-2' deep remain likely...and may still be triggered from a distance.

Conservative decision making is essential.

Low

Moderate

Considerable

High

Extreme

Learn how to read the forecast here

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Weather and Snow

Happy Solstice.

But it's been a rough few days around the West:

Lone skier fatality near Crested Butte on Friday.
Snowmobiler fatality in Wyoming's Salt River Range on Friday.
Double skier fatality near Silverton, Colorado on Saturday.

You can read more about these on Avalanche.org/avalanche-accidents

Skies are overcast with winds along the skyline blowing 30mph. James Peak and other anemometers are generally 15-20mph. Mountain temps warmed significantly with the warm front and are in the mid-30s.

We'll get a bit of a break today and tonight ahead of tomorrow afternoon's strong cold front. Temps will drop to the low single digits Tues night and we may see 3-5" of low density snow if we're lucky.

High pressure and clearing skies wrap up the rest of the week.

Recent Avalanches

Only one reported avalanche noted from the backcountry yesterday - and it was a close call. A skier was reportedly caught and carried in a 1-2' deep and 350' wide avalanche near Bailey Springs off the Cutler Ridge/Ben Lomond headwall. This was on a steep wind loaded east facing slope at 8600'. We hope to get more info today.

Derek DeBruin has an excellent observation from his outing along the ridge from yesterday found HERE.

You can find all of these reports in the Observations and Avalanches tab in the Menu above or by clicking HERE.

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

While we heard of only one new avalanche yesterday, collapsing and long shooting cracks along with damning snowpack tests are evidence enough of a generally unstable snowpack. These avalanches are what we call 'Unmanageable' - that is, they are predictable in their unpredictability: they may be triggered at a distance or from below. Note that many of these avalanches have ripped out mid slope and well off the ridgelines.

Continue to give yourself plenty of margin. Travel advice would be to stick to low angle terrain until the snowpack has adjusted.

The snowpack has a hard time adjusting with every event that adds additional stress - like the previous days' strong northwest winds.

These avalanches are failing on the NFL - the November Facet Layer - and unfortunately leave plenty of faceted grains on the bed surface, waiting for the next slab of snow. These are called Repeater avalanches. Repeater slopes can be particularly tricky as they can be difficult to identify with the next blanket of snowfall.

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

Soft and hard wind drifts can be triggered primarily along the higher elevations. These drifts may look smooth and rounded or scalloped and wavy. They may also break out above you. Look for them on predominantly north through east to south facing slopes and know that any triggered wind drift may step down into older weak faceted snow.

General Announcements

Please visit this website with information about Responsible Winter Recreation by the Utah Office of Outdoor Recreation.

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This information does not apply to developed ski areas or highways where avalanche control is normally done. This forecast is from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This forecast describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.

Observations and Avalanches

Backcountry Emergency Procedures