North Ogden Divide, closed due to avalanches, may not reopen until week’s end
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- In this April 2023 photo, an unidentified worker assists Weber County Road Department crews clear snow covering the North Ogden Divide due to an avalanche.
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- In this photo taken Friday, April 7, 2023, Weber County Road Department crews clear the North Ogden Divide of snow brought on by an avalanche.
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- The North Ogden Divide, covered by snow caused by an avalanche, in a photo posted to the Webern County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue unit Facebook page on Friday, April 7, 2023.
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- In this photo taken Friday, April 7, 2023, Weber County Road Department crews clear the North Ogden Divide of snow brought on by an avalanche.
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- The roadway section marked in yellow shows the portion of the North Ogden Divide that was covered by snow brought on by avalanches on Friday, March 31, 2023.
The North Ogden Divide, closed for more than a week because the roadway is blocked by snow, may not reopen until week’s end as a high danger of avalanches lingers on in the mountains of the Utah Avalanche Center’s Ogden sector.
The North Ogden Divide, which connects North Ogden and the Liberty area, was closed to traffic on March 31 after two avalanches covered the eastern section of the roadway west of Liberty, according to the Weber County Sheriff’s Office. A third avalanche, also on the Liberty side of the roadway, affected the Chicken Creek area.
Weber County road crews have been making headway in clearing portions of the covered road, according to photos posted on the Weber County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue unit Facebook page, but they’re limited in what they can do due to the continuing avalanche threat. Snowstorms early last week also hampered the efforts.
“We’ve been in contact with (the) Utah Avalanche Center, waiting for conditions to be safer for crews to work in the area,” Joe Hadley, director of the Weber County Road Department, said in a message to the Standard-Examiner. The snow is 20-feet deep in some sections along the North Ogden Divide, but he’s hoping for a reopening by the end of the week, after crews get the all-clear to go in and remove the remaining white stuff.
An avalanche warning issued by the National Weather Service that covers the Wasatch range of mountains stays in effect until 6 a.m. Tuesday.
“Warm temperatures and the intense sun will create widespread areas of unstable wet snow. Natural and human-triggered cornice falls and wet avalanches are certain,” reads the warning. “People should avoid being in avalanche terrain (off of and out from under slopes steeper than 30 degrees) and stay clear of avalanche runouts on all aspects and elevations.”
The current closure isn’t the first this season. A massive rockslide on March 13 led to the temporary closure of the road before roads officials were able to clear the debris. No one sustained any injuries and officials have reported no injuries related to the avalanches along the roadway.
Neither Weber County Commissioner Jim Harvey nor County Commissioner Sharon Bolos can recall avalanche issues along the North Ogden Divide to this degree. “I don’t know if we’ve had anything his serious,” Bolos said.
Motorists have had to instead take the Ogden Canyon Road or other detours. “I think that people are understanding in realizing we’re dealing with Mother Nature and this is the best we can do,” Bolos said.
According to the Utah Avalanche Center, 22 avalanches have been reported in the organization’s Ogden sector since March 31. It said the sheer quantity of snow factored in the North Ogden Divide avalanche.
“The problem is just too much snow. Several feet of snow accumulated in the days prior to this event, and we noted very high rates of accumulation overnight,” reads the Utah Avalanche Center report on the March 31 avalanches.