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 Wednesday, December 14th at 1:00 p.m. 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:

Cold temperatures and no precipitation still plague the La Sal Mountains, although the inversion in the Moab Valley has made for some other sweet winter activities such as ice skating! There is enough snow to get up and do some Skate/Nordic Skiing, although backcountry skiing is limited to only a couple of select spots up in the La Sals. Plenty of ground hazards exist to trip you up, so be careful! The Grand County Road Department did plow the road, although it is still icy and snow packed in spots. 4WD and chains are recommended.

Current Conditions: (click location for latest data)

Geyser Pass Trailhead (9,600’): 5.50” at the SNOTEL. 17 degrees at the trailhead at 10:00 a.m.

Gold Basin and South Mountain: 20” of settled snow on the ground.

Pre-Laurel Peak Weather Station (11,705’): We are currently waiting on a piece of radio equipment to come in, once we get it, we should be ready to go!

Mountain Weather: (At 10,500’)

This Afternoon: Sunny, with a high near 22. North wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 6. Wind chill values between -10 and zero. North northeast wind between 10 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 28. Wind chill values between -10 and zero. North northeast wind between 10 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.

Avalanche Conditions: (Link to the International Avalanche Danger Scale here)

Here goes the broken record…our biggest concern for today and into the foreseeable future will be those steep slopes at or above treeline on E-NW aspects. This is where that weak, rotten, faceted snow has been hiding out through weeks of seemingly unending high pressure. This depth-hoar can and most definitely will fail once there is a significant load deposited on top of them, or if a skier finds a weak trap door in the pack. The Bottom line for today is going to be MODERATE on those steep, upper elevation Northerly aspects, where there is a terrain feature, like a convexity, and/or shallow areas in the snow pack that can transmit a skiers weight into the weak sugar snow on the ground. Any avalanche activity can be as large as the terrain features shape, and be small avalanches that can still be dangerous to anyone caught in them. Rocks, cliffs and trees hurt! The rest of the range will be LOW.