Manti-La Sal Avalanche Center

US Forest Service Manti-La Sal National Forest

Introduction: Good Morning! This is Evan Stevens with the USFS Manti-La Sal Avalanche Center with your avalanche and mountain weather advisory. Today is Sunday, January 2^nd, 2005 at 8:00 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:

A fresh dusting of snow, about 2-4 inches, is still out there to greet the last of the holiday revelers, and we do have a WINTER STORM WATCH in effect, which will hopefully bring us more. You can still expect to find a very mixed bag of conditions from dust on crust, to some powder in the trees, to wind hammered sastrugi in the open areas. Last week’s winds got everywhere, so watch out for downed timber and the odd wind slab in the trees.

Current Conditions: (click location for latest data)

Geyser Pass Trailhead (9,600’): 30” of snow on the ground and 26 degrees.

Pre-Laurel Peak (11,700’): 13 degrees with winds out of the SE at 28 to 41 mph.

Gold Basin has about 40” to 50” of settled snow on the ground.

Mountain Weather: (At 10,500’)

Today: Snow likely, mainly after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 32. Wind chill values between -3 and 7. Breezy, with a south wind around 20 mph, with gusts as high as 45 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Tonight: Periods of snow. Low around 15. Wind chill values between -3 and 7. Windy, with a south wind between 25 and 30 mph, with gusts as high as 55 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.
Monday: Periods of snow. High near 29. Wind chill values between -1 and 9. Breezy, with a south wind between 20 and 25 mph, with gusts as high as 50 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.

Avalanche Conditions:

The dark clouds are back and so are the winds, which have been actively loading and drifting the mountains for days now. As a result the scariest places in the mountains right now are not the big alpine bowls, where the snow has been cemented via hard slabs into place, but rather in the slightly less exposed locations. These locations would be the more sheltered mid-elevation glades and open pockets, where the wind speeds would slow down and deposit the new snow. Of course this is also where the weakest snow is in the range, the shady and sheltered north facing trees, a virtual facet garden. So, what do you get when you add sensitive wind slabs on top of unconsolidated sugar snow? Avalanches in the trees (photo of some debris), with shooting cracks and whoompf there to clue you in. The danger rating is going to stay at CONSIDERABLE (human triggered avalanches probable and natural avalanche possible) on all terrain steeper than 35 degrees at all elevations and aspects, with a special concern for the steep trees and open pockets below treeline. The winds are still blowing and there will be even more new wind slabs formed today on the lee slopes. Remember that unusual places were wind-loaded last week, and now a little bit of fresh snow is covering up the obvious clues, so don’t be afraid to dig a few hasty pits to see what lies beneath you in the snowpack.

Nordic and Skate Skiing:

The Geyser Pass Road was packed out by tons of snowmobile traffic and was probably offering up some good skate and Nordic skiing conditions…go enjoy!