Forecast: Ogden Area Mountains - Utah Avalanche Center

Forecast for the Ogden Area Mountains

Issued by Dave Kelly on
Saturday morning, January 4, 2025

Today, the avalanche danger is HIGH in upper elevation terrain as a new storm moves in and further stresses our buried facets. The avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE at mid elevations and MODERATE in low elevation terrain.

Avoid all terrain greater than 30° in steepness that has a layer of buried facets near the ground. These avalanches could be 1'-3' deep and up to 200' wide.

Low

Moderate

Considerable

High

Extreme

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Weather and Snow

Under overcast skies it is snowing heavily. There is currently 1"-2" of new snow since it started snowing earlier this morning. Trailhead temperatures are in the 30's °F and the highest ridgelines are in the 20's °F. Winds are blowing from the west in the mid-teens gusting to the 20's MPH. Overnight max gusts were in the 50's at Mt Ogden.

Today, under overcast skies look for dropping temperatures with a high of 29-34 °F. Winds will shift to the northwest 10 gusting to 15 MPH at the lower ridgelines and 30 gusting to 40 MPH at the highest peaks. We can expect to see snow, heavy at times 8"-14" with .60"-1.15" water.

The snowpack does not like rapid change and your best bet to enjoy this newest snow is to stay out of avalanche terrain and stick to lower angle slopes less than 30 ° in steepness.

Recent Avalanches

There were no reports of avalanches from the Ogden backcountry yesterday. There were a number of great observations from the Ogden area over the last week and you can read them all HERE.

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

Additional snowfall and strong winds will continue to stress the buried persistent weak layer that has been the culprit in multiple avalanches. These avalanches could be 1'-3' deep and up to 200' wide and be triggered remotely. The uncertainty is that as we add more snow and wind these avalanches will become bigger in size and will involve one of the other avalanche problems. It's tricky out there right now and your best bet is to enjoy the new snow in lower angle terrain while the snowpack settles out.

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

Stiff wind drifts that formed during high winds yesterday and overnight are now covered over by new snow and will be hard to see. With strong gusty winds overnight, these drifts will be lower on the slope than you may expect and I will be avoiding these areas of wind drifted snow today.

This photo ( Kaufmann) below shows what is likely a wind loaded avalanche that failed on the buried persistent weak layer on a northeast aspect at 9,100 (December 30, 2024).

Type

Location

Likelihood

Size

Description

Expect to see soft slabs of storm snow that may be 10"-14" deep and deeper if they have been affected by wind. These soft slabs will be more than enough to catch and carry a human. When combined with the buried persistent weak layer could prove fatal on steep north-east facing aspects. During periods of increased snowfall there will be natural avalanches that run on density changes within the storm snow and you may see long running dry loose avalanches in steep terrain on all aspects.

Additional Information

Researchers Ian McCammon and Kelly McNeil looked into safety habits that would increase our margins of safety. Please take a moment to look over these Six Tips That Could Save Your Life.

General Announcements

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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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