NORTHERN UTAH, Dec. 24, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — The Utah Avalanche Center has issued a Christmas Eve avalanche watch for the mountains of Northern Utah including the mountains near Logan, Ogden, and Salt Lake City as well as the western Uinta Mountains.
A high avalanche danger will develop Sunday night due to the expected snowfall, the Center said in a news release on Facebook.
The warning is in affect from 6 a.m. Sunday until 6 a.m. Monday, the statement said.
“Below average snowfall before the holidays always creates a dangerous winter,” it said. “This fact is counterintuitive, but below average early season snow creates a shallow and weak snowpack which cannot support the weight of new snow. In recent years, winters with below average early snowfall have been ones with above average avalanche deaths.”
People are asked to stay away from slopes steeper than 30 degrees.
The news release said that anyone traveling in the mountains should get the proper avalanche rescue gear, and know how to use it, get avalanche training and get the avalanche forecast every day here or by calling 1-888-999-4019.
