Observation Date
12/13/2019
Observer Name
Garcia/Bolos
Region
Moab
Location Name or Route
Gold Basin/Lawn Mower
Weather
Sky
Broken
Wind Direction
Northwest
Wind Speed
Moderate
Weather Comments
Mostly cloudy all day, little pockets of blue sky every now and then. Sun came out for about ten minutes, but quickly went away. Wind were light in the drainage bottom and moderate NW winds on ridgetops.
Snow Characteristics
Snow Surface Conditions
Dense Loose
Wind Crust
Snow Characteristics Comments
The snow surface has been affected by the wind over the past few days. Wednesday's wind event had SW winds blowing 20-30 mph and moving what little snow was available for transport. We traveled on upper elevation east facing slopes and crossed several fresh wind drifts. The skiing was in a sort of soft breakable wind slab.
Red Flags
Red Flags
Wind Loading
Cracking
Red Flags Comments
We observed freshly deposited wind drifts today. The first drifts were encountered while skinning up the climber's left side of tele heaven. I skied this area Monday and there were no wind drifts. The drifts we encountered today were most likely from Wednesday's event. As we traveled further up the Lawnmower we encountered more wind drifted snow. In some places these drifts we about four inches thick and sitting above a less cohesive graupel layer. These drifts would crack under your skis, but no shooting cracks were observed. Wind slabs today were shallow and soft, but they are out there and I think it should be on everyone's radar, especially if you're getting into steep NE terrain in the upper elevations. Today's winds were moderate out of the NW, but I did not observe any blowing snow or active wind loading.
Avalanche Problem #1
Problem
Wind Drifted Snow
Trend
Same
Problem #1 Comments
See the above red flag description. I think you will find this problem primarily on North and East facing slopes at the mid and upper elevations.
Photo 1 shows the sensitive fresh wind drifts cracking beneath my skis. Photo 2, the sun came out for a hot minute and gave us a nice view across to Pre Laurel and the Funnel. Danger is still mostly low, but there is a moderate danger of triggering a wind slab on mid and upper elevation terrain facing N and E.
Today's Observed Danger Rating
Moderate
Tomorrows Estimated Danger Rating
Moderate
Coordinates
