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 isSunday, December 21st, 2003 at 7:30 A.M

General Conditions:

Currently, a storm is coming in from the Southwest, and so far only bringing in some strong winds in the mountains. Will it bring in any snowfall with it? Lets cross our fingers. Currently in Moab it is 30F with calm winds under overcast skies. Up at the Geyser Pass Trailhead it is currently 32.9F with 22” of snow at the stake. Pre-Laurel Peak is at 19F with the winds out of the SSE at an average of 23 mph. There is just under three feet of snow at our Gold Basin snow stake, and it appears that the colder weather has locked our snow pack down low. The road up to the GPTH is plowed and snow packed.

Mountain Weather:

Today: Snow showers likely past 11 A.M. Mostly cloudy with a high around 33F. SSW wind at 14-18 mph. 1”-2” of accumulation possible.

Tonight: Snow tapers off about 11 P.M. Mostly cloudy skies turn clear. Low 18F. SSW winds veer to the NNW, 10-15 mph.

Monday: Mostly sunny. High 27. NNW wind at 11-15 mph.

Avalanche Conditions:

All the warm weather we had in the past four days has settled our snow pack very nicely, leaving a sun crust on SE thru SW aspects. The temperatures were so high (for the winter) that even the Northerly aspects gained some strength in the snow pack. And now that the colder weather has come into the area, it has “locked” our Southerly aspect snow pack. Since Saturday morning, the wind has done nothing but increase in intensity. The wind is strong enough to transport snow, but currently our snow pack doesn’t want to give any to the cause, especially with the Southerly winds. With the potential for some snow in the nearest future, look for that to change rapidly. For today, I going to leave the avalanche danger at MODERATE on NE-NW aspects that could have been previously wind loaded and on slopes steeper than 35 degrees. The rest of the areas I am going to rate as LOW. While out in the back country today, take a look on those shady, windless slopes for surface hoar persisting.

That could be a concern down the road if it gets buried.

Nordic and Skate Skiing:

Some snowmobilers were out yesterday, making it time to head out with your Nordic and skating gear! The track is getting wider all of the time. For those of you who are skate skiers out there, drop a line and tell me if you liked the conditions or not.

Public Announcements:

We still need volunteers and observers! Call us at the office for more info, 259-7155 for more info, or 636-3363 after hours. Get ready for our avalanche awareness courses coming in January. Check the education page for a course near you.

Word of the Day:

The link above hopefully shows what surface hoar looks like. This event is very important to monitor. Also known for being “loud powder” while skiing it, when it becomes buried, it becomes very difficult to detect and bonds poorly to other snow layers.