Manti-La Sal Avalanche Center

US Forest Service Manti-La Sal National Forest

Introduction:

Good morning! This is Max Forgensi with the USFS Manti-La Sal Avalanche Center with your avalanche and mountain weather advisory. Today is the new moon, Sunday, November 23 at 7:30 A.M.

General Conditions:

The coldest temperatures of the season are here! Currently the sky is clear, winds calm and the temperature in Moab is 9 degrees and up in the mountains it is –6.0 degrees Fahrenheit. But before this cold air mass arrived, we received bountiful precipitation. The SNOTEL at Geyser Pass Trail Head shows 6 new inches from the storm. At 2:30 yesterday there was a 61cm (24”) base at the bottom of the Northwoods with 15 cm (6”) of new precipitation on the ground and still snowing. Our snow stake at the GPTH shows an 18” base.

Mountain Weather:

The cold air has arrived from the north and will continue to be here at least through the first half of the week with the warmest day being on the day of the Big Bird. Unfortunately, valley temperatures will be slow to warm due to poor mixing, the good news is that the mountains have a better chance to warm up today from its current temperature.

Today: Scattered Clouds and Cold; High 10-15, winds light out of the North

Tonight: Winds light out of the N-NW, lows into the single digits

Monday: Continued cold with a slight chance of precipitation Monday night. Highs in the teens.

Avalanche Conditions:

There is a mixed bag of conditions out there in the backcountry. The warm weather that preceded this cold front left a sun crust 2cm thick on W-S aspects in open areas below tree line. The colder northerly aspects did not have this crust, and on a couple tests, the new snow would sluff off the old snow surface. The winds yesterday afternoon were moderate out of the W-NW. Even the Gold Basin road had some wind effect. I suspect there will be some good soft snow drifts a foot or so deep at and above tree line on wind-loaded slopes.

Our hazard rating for today: LOW Below Tree line on S-NW aspects, MODERATE on N-SE aspects. At and Above Tree line: MODERATE on steep, wind loaded slopes and all Northern aspects. Use your best judgment, and make a couple ski cuts high in the starting zone before committing. I’ll be out there today to see if I can’t find any buried surface hoar and see if there were any naturals.

Nordic and Skate Skiing:

The road has a good base, and now all we need is some snowcat and snowmobile traffic to improve things. Skating would not be advised just yet, but classic you could get away with.

Public Announcements:

We need volunteers and observers!!! The more eyes we have, the better this advisory can be…If interested call us at 259-SNOW, leave a message after the advisory.

MF