Forecast: Ogden Area Mountains - Utah Avalanche Center

Forecast for the Ogden Area Mountains

Issued by Trent Meisenheimer on
Tuesday morning, December 28, 2021

The avalanche danger is HIGH on upper elevation aspects facing northwest through north and east where strong winds and recent snowfall have created dangerous avalanche conditions. Both natural and human-triggered avalanches are likely. Traveling in or below avalanche terrain is NOT recommended.

There is CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger on mid and upper elevation aspects facing west through south and southeast. Low elevations have a MODERATE avalanche danger.

Low

Moderate

Considerable

High

Extreme

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Avalanche Warning

THE AVALANCHE DANGER IS HIGH WITH DANGEROUS AVALANCHE CONDITIONS.

AN AVALANCHE WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE MOUNTAINS OF MUCH OF THE STATE OF UTAH, INCLUDING THE WASATCH RANGE...BEAR RIVER RANGE...UINTA MOUNTAINS...AND THE MANTI-SKYLINE.

HEAVY DENSE SNOWFALL AND STRONG WINDS HAVE CREATED DANGEROUS AVALANCHE CONDITIONS. BOTH HUMAN TRIGGERED AND NATURAL AVALANCHES ARE LIKELY. STAY OFF OF AND OUT FROM UNDER SLOPES STEEPER THAN 30 DEGREES.

Weather and Snow

Under cloudy skies, the overnight temperatures have plummeted, and it's cold with current mountain temperatures in the single digits °F. Winds are blowing from the west-southwest at speeds of 10-20 mph across the upper elevation ridgelines. My hope is they are finally trending down in speeds. It's been a long six days of strong winds. The last snowflakes are currently being squeezed from the atmosphere leaving us with 2-4 inches of new snow in the past 24 hrs

Recent Avalanches

No new observations or avalanches were reported.

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

Recent snowfall and strong winds have overloaded a persistent weak layer (PWL) of faceted snow down near the ground on mid and upper elevation aspects facing northwest through north and east. This weak layer formed from snow that fell earlier this Autumn, and once we buried this weak layer beginning on December 9, the PWL has become reactive with avalanching on every loading event of new snow and/or wind.

Avalanches failing on this weak layer may be triggered remotely (from a distance) or from below. Any avalanche failing on this PWL may break down 2-4' deep (possibly deeper) and propagate hundreds of feet wide.

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

Strong winds have created both hard and soft slabs of windblown on all aspects at the mid and upper elevations. Although the winds have been mainly from the west/southwest, winds this strong can channel snow around terrain features and create fresh drifts on all aspects, including well-down off of ridge lines. You may even find fresh wind drifts at unusually low elevations below 7,000'.

Additional Information

Craig Gordon, Mark Staples, Trent Meisenheimer, Toby Weed, and Brett Kobernik discuss the current avalanche situation. They discuss some things we know and some things we don't know.

General Announcements

Who's up for some free avalanche training? Get a refresher, become better prepared for an upcoming avalanche class, or just boost your skills. Go to https://learn.kbyg.org/ and scroll down to Step 2 for a series of interactive online avalanche courses produced by the UAC.

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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