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 Wednesday, February 4th, 2004 at 7:30 am.

 

February 7th through 9th is our Level 1 avalanche course.  Call 259-7155 to register.

 

Click here for recent photos.  Click here for Snowpits.  You can always email us observations as well by clicking here, or sending a message to [email protected] or [email protected] .

 

General Conditions:

We are in a winter storm warning through today, the storm finally hit yesterday starting at about 1P.M. and it continues to dump snow from Moab to the tops of the mountains.  Currently it is 29 degrees in Moab.  Up at the Geyser Pass Trailhead, the temperature is 16 degrees, six inches have accumulated and there is 41” on the ground . You can expect over double that new snow amount at higher elevations.   Up on Pre-Laurel Peak the temperature is 4 degrees and the winds have veered to the NW under light winds.  I am going to say that the wind speeds are a bit suspect up there, assume they are howling until proven otherwise.  At Gold Basin we have over 60” of snow on the ground.  The road to Geyser Pass will be plowed sometime today, although if you’re an early bird, don’t expect it, 4WD and chains are recommended.

 

Mountain Weather:

You know it is a great snow year when you have to extend the snow stake in Gold Basin…

Today:  Winter storm warning.  Occasional snow showers.   2”-4” expected.  High around 20. 

Tonight:  Cloudy with snow likely.  An additional 2” expected to accumulate.  Low 10-20.

Thursday:  Mostly cloudy with a 30% chance of snow.  High in the 20’s.

 

Avalanche Conditions:

A special avalanche advisory is being issued for the La Sal Mountains.  Large, far running avalanches are occurring naturally and will be likely throughout the day.  Stay off steep slopes and out of run out zones.  There are numerous contributing factors to this warning, starting from the high pressure that locked in over the area in mid-January.  Our snow pack was generally strong then (bed surface), although the cold clear nights and solar radiation created surface hoar and near surface facets (weak layer).  Next came a couple of snow storms that came in cold and buried these weak layers under small wind slabs, then the wind that preceded this event and is continuing to blow during this storm has increased the weight on top of the weak layers (cohesive slab).  The snow from this storm is heavy, and Mother Nature has her prime conditions for natural avalanches.  Yesterday I observed widespread cracking and collapsing on all aspects, and a natural avalanche occurred just below the Geyser Pass Trailhead.  Winds have been blowing out of the NW, S and SSW and SSE at moderate speeds for the past four days, and there has been plenty of snow to transport.  Test pits yielded very easy to easy shears.

Bottom Line for Today:  The avalanche danger is going to be CONSIDERABLE at or above treeline  with pockets of HIGH on NW-NE aspects.  Today is a great day to stay on sheltered, lower angled terrain.  Below tree line the avalanche danger is going to be MODERATE with pockets of  CONSIDERABLE on steep, wind-loaded slopes greater than 35 degrees.  Watch those runout zones!

 

Nordic and Skate Skiing:  A good work out day.  The snow is so heavy that you really don’t sink through to the old track.