Northern Utah ski resort shuts doors on Friday due to heavy snow

EDEN, Utah (ABC4) — A northern Utah ski resort said it will remain closed on Friday, Jan. 12, after heavy snow dumped onto the region.

Powder Mountain Ski Resort, located roughly 20 miles northwest of Ogden in Weber County, said it had received more than 15 inches of snow in the past 24 hours. Its weather stations in the area are reading 30 to 40 miles per hour winds, creating a dangerous mix for avalanche potential.

“Snow removal and mitigation will take place at the resort throughout the day,” Powder Mountain officials said in a statement posted to Twitter/X.

Winter storm warnings issued as Utah mountains could get up to 5 feet of snow this weekend

Utah Avalanche Center’s Greg Gagne issued a warning for high avalanche danger for the Ogden area mountains on Friday morning saying potential avalanches could be two to three feet deep and hundreds of feet wide.

“Strong winds and heavy snowfall have created dangerous avalanche conditions,” Gagne said. “Avalanches failing on a widespread persistent weak layer buried under the new snow are very likely. Stay off of and out from under slopes steeper than 30 degrees.”

The Utah Avalanche Center’s warning went into effect at 6 a.m. on Friday and is expected to expire at 6 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 13.

Several avalanches have already impacted Utah’s canyons on Friday morning. The Utah Department of Transportation closed Little Cottonwood Canyon overnight into Friday morning for avalanche mitigation. Meanwhile both the North Ogden Divide Road and Logan Canyon were shut down due to natural avalanches hitting the road.

According to the Utah Avalanche Center there were nearly 20 avalanches reported from the mountains in Ogden, Salt Lake and Provo on Thursday, which were both natural and human-triggered.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.