Manti-La Sal Avalanche Center

US Forest Service Manti-La Sal National Forest

Introduction:

Good morning! This is Evan Stevens with the USFS Manti-La Sal Avalanche Center with your avalanche and mountain weather advisory. Today is Sunday, November 30, 2003 at 7:30 A.M. Due to the conditions, this advisory will be updated as the weather changes and on weekends, until the winter kicks into gear again.

General Conditions:

We are still experiencing the morning inversion around here. 35 degrees at the trailhead and 22 in town. The SNOTEL site is reading 12” this morning, with twice as much at 11,000’. Snow surfaces will be a mix of recrystalized snow on the northerly aspects and a variety of crusts on the southerly aspects. The road is a bit slick from traffic packing it out, so chains or 4WD might come in handy.

Mountain Weather:

The high pressure broken record is skipping. As far as the forecasts and models look into the future, all they see are highs near 40 at 10,000’, lows near 20 and partly cloudy skies.

Avalanche Conditions:

The only thing that is changing around here is the date. Conditions are still quite thin, and the snowpack has weakened dramatically. With less than 3 feet of snow pack in most places, the snowpack is not quite deep enough to maintain any strength through this weather pattern, and is setting itself up for some good action when it starts to snow again. For now, most of the recent avalanche hazard has settled out, with just the chance of triggering an isolated pocket at or above treeline on Northerly aspects. Combine this with the shallow snowpack and the result is a LOW avalanche danger on all aspects at all elevations, with only a few pockets of instability lingering around on Northerly aspects at and above treeline. Remember, low danger still means that you can get yourself into trouble in one of these wind loaded starting zones, so always play it safe!

Nordic and Skate Skiing:

It seems like classic is still the way to go right now. With a bit of snowmachine traffic, the skating should improve fast.

Public Announcements:

There will be an Avalanche Awareness talk for the Moab Winter Rescue team on Tuesday, December 9^th at 7pm, with a volunteer/observer meeting to follow. Call us at the office for more info, 636-3363.

Safety Tip of the Day:

Always have an escape route planned when riding or crossing avalanche terrain. Locate your safe spots and go from island of safety to island of safety.