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 Friday, November 25th at 4:00 p.m. The next advisory for the La Sal Mountains will be on Sunday morning.

Mark your calendars! On Monday, December 5^th at the Grand County SAR shed, the Winter Search and Rescue team will be hosting a ski swap from 6-8 p.m. Bring any winter gear that you want to swap and your checkbook. 10% of the proceeds will go to the Friends of the Manti-La Sal Avalanche Center.

It will be held across from the M.A.R.C. at the SAR shed. See you there!

I would like to announce to everyone that a new avalanche forecaster has been hired to replace Evan Stevens, who moved up to British Columbia. The new avalanche forecaster for the Manti-La Sal Avalanche Center is Dave Medara. Dave has worked for the MLSAC in some sort of fashion since 1992. He will begin work starting on December 19^th. Welcome back Dave!

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 dominating high pressure system is heading out of our area within the next 24 hours and it is being replaced by the first real winter weather Moab has seen this year. Starting Saturday afternoon, a trough of low pressure is coming in from the Pacific Northwest, bringing with it SNOW! This storm will persist through Sunday and maybe even into the early work week. Currently the La Sal Mountains are in dire need of some of the white stuff. Tomorrow might be the last day to be able to get a vehicle up to the Gold Basin turnoff for a Christmas tree. Above the Gold Basin turnoff there is currently enough snow on the road to do some classic Nordic skiing, not more than that.

Current Conditions: (click location for latest data)

Geyser Pass Trailhead (9,600’): -2” at the SNOTEL, cross our fingers for a change. Max temp on Friday was 41 degrees, the low was 26.

Gold Basin and South Mountain: 9” of settled snow on the ground.

Pre-Laurel Peak Weather Station (11,705’): The weather station is getting a facelift; new radios, antennas and all the instrumentation has been recalibrated. You can thank the Friends of the Manti-La Sal Avalanche Center for this one. Expect the weather station to be up and running in early December.

Mountain Weather: (At 10,500’)

Saturday: 60% chance of snow. Cloudy, with a high near 34. Winds will be out of the Southwest at 15-20 mph, gusting to 35. 1”-3” of snow accumulations is possible.

Saturday night: Periods of snow. Low near 14. Windy. Winds will veer to the West-north-west at 15-20 mph, increasing to 25-30 mph with gusts to 40. 90% chance of snow. Accumulations of 8”-12” expected.

Sunday: 40% chance of snow. Mostly cloudy with a high near 21. Winds will be out of the Northwest at 25 mph.

Avalanche Conditions:

Shallow snow conditions and temperatures dipping into the 20’s at night are setting the La Sal Mountains up for a dangerous, continental snowpack. The snow grains on the ground are currently faceted, or sugar snow, and will be the weak layer that will give us the most problems once we get a slab on top of it. Avalanche danger is currently limited to North facing slopes at treeline, pretty much the only place that is holding any snow in the La Sal Mountains currently. Once the snow gets flying and the wind starts blowing, be suspect of these steep, north-facing shots. The more snow and wind we receive, the easier it will be to trigger avalanches. The Hazard Rating will rise in response to this coming storm.