Introduction: Good
Morning! This is Evan Stevens with the
USFS Manti-La Sal Avalanche Center with your avalanche and mountain weather
advisory. Today is Friday, December
3rd, 2004 at 8:30 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:
Under clear skies, some of the coldest sunny weather temperatures
we see here in the desert continue to linger.
However a storm on Sunday should shake that pattern up a little
bit. Otherwise more great skiing and
riding is on tap for the La Sals with settled soft snow found on most aspects,
with only slight crusts forming on southerly aspects. Above treeline locations offer up a mixed bag of wind affected
snow on windward aspects. Currently it
is 14 degrees at the Geyser Pass Trailhead with 22” of snow on the ground, and
up to 40”+ in Gold Basin. At 11,700’
winds are light and out of the SW with a temperature of about 10 degrees.
Mark your calendars for December 6th, at 7-8 p.m. when
the Southeastern Utah Winter Search and Rescue Team puts on a SKI SWAP! If you are trying to sell any type of
snow related equipment or clothing or are looking for some equipment yourself, this
is going to be the best place to do it in Moab for this winter season.
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: Clear high near
34. Winds NE at 5-10 mph.
Tonight: Clear. Low near 5.
Winds ENE at 5-10
Saturday: Partly
cloudy. High near 36. Winds ENE at 5 mph.
Avalanche Conditions:
As the last storm fades into memory, so do some of the warning
signs of avalanche activity and the present danger in the mountains. There are still a few persistent weak layers
lingering in the snow pack, such as our buried surface hoar layer from the 20th
of November, but the places where you could trigger an avalanche are becoming
sporadic. That does not mean that it is
impossible to trigger a slide; it is just going to take the additional weight
of a winter traveler or two and being in the wrong place to do so. These wrong places where the avalanche
danger is MODERATE are on slopes
steeper than 35 degrees on wind loaded slopes mostly on ENE-N-WNW aspects at or
above treeline. Sunnier slopes have
settled out a bit but cross loaded gullies may still react a bit. Be wary of the steep and shady spot below
treeline where the persistent weak layers are even more dramatic, but the snow
load may not be as large.
Anybody who traveled up into the La Sals lately 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.
Nordic and Skate Skiing:
An enjoyable day for you
classic Nordic skiers. Skate skiing
will be compromised due to the fact the track is not very wide.