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 Monday, December 29th, 2003 at 7:30 A.M

General Conditions:

This morning Moab is under partly cloudy skies with winds out of the ESE at 7 mph. The current temperature in town is 16F. Up at the Geyser Pass Trailhead it is 9.3F. The GPTH snow stake has 37”. Up at Gold Basin, we have 52” of snow on the ground. The Pre-Laurel weather station has a temperature of 0F with winds currently out of the SW and strong enough to transport snow. These temperatures are a lot warmer than yesterday’s. The road should be plowed sometime in the morning. 4WD and chains are advised.

Mountain Weather:

Today: Cloudy and Breezy. Areas of light snow in the P.M. Highs 15-25. SW winds at 15-25 mph.

Tonight: Cloudy. Windy. Snow and areas of blowing snow likely. Snow accumulations of 1-3 inches. Lows 5-15. South winds at 20-30 mph decreasing after midnight to 15-25 mph. 60% chance of snow.

Tuesday: Cloudy. Chance of snow…snow accumulations up to two inches. High near 20. SE winds 10-15 mph.

Avalanche Conditions:

Yesterday was a great day to get out in the backcountry and today should be the same. We observed two avalanches on north facing slopes, one that started at tree-line (halfway down the slope) and one that started above tree-line (SS-N-2-U) on Mellenthin. With transporting winds currently out of the SW, there should be some more naturals on N-NE slopes. Mother Nature is giving you her best clue…stay away. On southerly aspects, the powder is staying cold and is laying on top of a supportable crust sandwich. We did have some collapsing/whoomphing yesterday on these aspects, the sandwich collapsing I suppose. The skiing conditions today are going to be great.

The bottom line is an avalanche danger of CONSIDERABLE on all wind loaded terrain NW-E steeper than 35 degrees. Be careful on and around cornices, be aware of any cracking or whoomphing and look for clues of instability. For the rest of the areas, I am going to rate it as MODERATE. Remember your safe travel techniques and avoid terrain traps, gullies and run-out zones of larger avalanche paths.

Nordic and Skate Skiing:

There is a good Nordic track started, although the lack of grooming is going to make skating impossible.

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.