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 Friday, March 18th, 2005 at 8:30 am. This bulletin is sponsored in part by Poison Spider, Moab’s finest bike shop, proud sponsors of the Friends of the Manti-La Sal Avalanche Center. This advisory will expire in 24 hours.

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:

The latest terms to describe the quality of the snowpack have been things like ‘rock hard’ and ‘glacial ice’. Needless to say, the snow has frozen up, corn is in the past, and powder is hard to find. The winds have been howling lately, for a little icing on the cake. And down in the desert you get lots of sand in your eyes. Sounds like spring cleaning time until the snow starts flying this weekend (hopefully)! The roads are in great shape-4WD is always recommended.

Current Conditions: (click location for latest data)

Geyser Pass Trailhead (9,600’): 39” at the SNOTEL, it is 22 degrees at the TH at 7:00 am.,

Pre-Laurel Peak (11,700’): still trying to fix it!

Gold Basin and South Mountain: 75”-85”” of settled snow on the ground.

Mountain Weather: (At 10,500’)

A few flakes should start to fly in the next day or two, with Sat. Night and Sunday being our best chance of significant snow.

Today: Scattered snow showers before noon. Partly cloudy, with a high near 36. West northwest wind between 5 and 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 17. West wind between 10 and 15 mph.
Saturday: A 20 percent chance of snow after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high around 40. Breezy, with a west southwest wind between 10 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
Saturday Night: Snow likely. Mostly cloudy, with a low near 21. Breezy, with a west southwest wind between 15 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.
Sunday: Snow likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high around 29. Breezy, with a west wind between 20 and 25 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Avalanche Conditions:

March has been living up to its windy reputation, with sustained winds out of the NW-N for the last few days. Although there isn’t a ton loose snow around for the wind to transport, don’t be surprised by the occasional hard slab near ridge tops and ridge lines and on the sides of cross-loaded gullies at and above treeline. Although they won’t be large enough to fully bury you, you won’t like the rocks and trees you hit at 60mph. The rest of the snowpack is frozen in time, don’t chatter your fillings loose! The Bottom Line for today is an avalanche danger of LOW with the occasional pocket of MODERATE in those aforementioned locations. Always play it safe!