Avalanche forecast

Ogden

Issued Dec 25, 2022valid to Dec 26, 2022Utah Avalanche Center

Avalanche danger

Alpine
Treeline
Below treeline

Out of date — this forecast expired 4 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

The avalanche danger is MODERATE on all slopes facing northwest through north and east and mid and upper elevation slopes facing southeast. Human-triggered avalanches are possible and avalanches may break down 1-3' deep.

The avalanche danger is LOW on all other slopes, although isolated pockets of reactive wind-drifted snow may be found on all aspects at the upper elevations.

Avalanche problems

Persistent Slabs
N
NE
E
SE
S
SW
W
NW
Alpine
Treeline
Below treeline
Likelihood
Possible
Size
3
Our persistent weak layer (PWL) of faceted snow that formed during the mid-November drought is buried underneath 1-3' of snowfall and wind-drifted snow and avalanches failing on this buried PWL were last reported over a week ago. On Friday, my partners and I were on Cutler Ridge and were finding the PWL continues to slowly gain strength (video discussion below).

Although we are moving in the right direction, spatial variability exists and human-triggered avalanches are possible, especially on slopes that were wind-loaded during the strong wind event from this past Wednesday and Thursday.

Recent Activity

No avalanche activity was reported from Saturday. There was a report on social media from late this past week of a snowboarder triggering a wind slab in Snowbasin backcountry area of Hells Canyon that almost caught and carried the rider into The Cemetery terrain trap. The wind slab was roughly 7" deep, 80' wide, and ran 250' downslope.

Snow and Weather

A trace to around an inch of dense snow fell yesterday, with a thin rime crust on many slopes.

Temperatures this morning are in the 20's F. Winds are from the west and have increased slightly overnight, with gusts in the upper 20's mph. Skies are overcast with a layer of low-level clouds.

For today, mostly-cloudy skies with temperatures rising into the 30's F. The northwest winds will average in the teens with gusts in the 20's at the mid elevations and average in the upper 20's mph. We may get an inch or so of damp snow with possible riming.

Monday will bring warmer temperatures ahead of a potentially potent atmospheric river event beginning Tuesday. Weather looks to remain active through the end of the year.

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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

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