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 Tuesday, November 30^th, 2004 at 7:30 a.m.

To see past advisories check out the ARCHIVE. To see current conditions go to our WEATHER PAGE. To see photos go to the AVIPHOTOS page.

General Conditions:

It is c-c-cold in Moab this morning! And the La Sals are even colder. The National Weather Service in Grand Junction has issued a HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK for the mountains today. The potential for frostbite is serious with wind chill values of –15 to –5 for at least the next 48 hours. Any exposed skin today will not take too long to freeze. Currently it is 15 degrees at the Canyonlands Airport and –3 degrees at Pre-Laurel Peak.

For those of you closet powder hounds in Moab, if you brave the cold, the reward will be in the form of abundant powder. There is 27”-34” at the Geyser Pass Trailhead today and over 40” of snow in Gold Basin. Skiing and riding conditions are very pleasant and the Weather Service is predicting the best areas to warm up are going to be over 8,000’.

The road crew did a superb job of clearing the road and parking lots yesterday, be careful on the Loop road though, there are a few icy patches down low to deal with.

Mountain Weather:

This cold air mass will continue to dominate our weather for the rest of the week with the next chance of snow coming on Sunday.

Today: Mostly clear. High near 22. Wind chill values of –11 to –1 degrees. SSW winds at 5-10 mph.

Tonight: Partly cloudy. Low –2. Wind chill values of –15 to –5 degrees. Calm winds changing to SSE at 5-10 mph.

Wednesday: Partly cloudy, High 23. Wind chill values of –15 to –5 degrees. Winds out of the SSE at 0-5 mph.

Make sure that you take breaks your breaks in the sun today!

Avalanche Conditions:

Anybody who traveled up into the La Sals yesterday would have observed some limited avalanche activity on all aspects and at all elevations. On some southerly aspects there were some point releases that started some loose snow avalanches. If you took a careful look around, you would have seen crown lines just at or above treeline or on the lee side of ridges. One avalanche to note is that the north ridge of the Horse Creek drainage ripped out below the weather station, although the fracture line was half way down the slope.

With no new snow falling in the past 24 hours and the snow having some good settlement, I am going to down grade the avalanche danger to MODERATE with pockets of CONSIDERABLE on slopes steeper than 35 degrees in areas that have significant wind loading, buried surface hoar or the combination of the two. IT IS STILL EARLY SEASON OUT THERE, take most of your clues from Mother Nature and remember the goal of your day to return home to your loved ones. Your ski tracks are as ephemeral as a wave in the ocean or your tracks in the sand.

Nordic and Skate Skiing:

A couple of snowmobiles traveled up to Geyser Pass yesterday, making it an enjoyable day for you classic Nordic skiers. Skate skiing will be compromised due to the fact the track is not very wide.