US Forest Service Manti-La Sal National Forest

Introduction:  Good Morning this is Dave Medara with the USFS Manti-La Sal Avalanche Center with your avalanche and mountain weather advisory.  Today is Monday, January 2nd 2006 at 8:30 am. Happy New Year.  This advisory will expire in 24 hours.

 

WE ARE STARTING TO FILL UP OUR AIARE LEVEL 1 AND LEVEL 2 CLASSES BEING HELD IN THE LA SALS THIS YEAR.  THE LEVEL 1 IS FEBRUARY 3RD-5TH (FRI-SUN), WHILE OUR LEVEL 2 IS MARCH 3RD-6TH  (FRI-MON).  CALL (435) 636-3363 FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO SIGN UP.  EACH CLASS IS LIMITED TO 12 STUDENTS.  TUITION GOES DIRECTLY TOWARDS THE FRIENDS OF THE MANTI-LA SAL AVALANCHE CENTER.

 

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 5” of snow that fell Saturday night was severely needed and so will be the snow forecast to fall today and tonight. Yesterday’s sun and warm temperatures will likely have crusted over any slopes with a SE-SW-W aspect. The shady side slopes E-NE-NW will keep the drier powder snow longer, but keep in mind that there is very little base on the mountain right now. The snow cover is still dangerously thin. The cross country and skate skiing conditions on the Geyser Pass trail are pretty good. There is more snow in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow morning.   

Current Conditions: (click location for latest data)

Geyser Pass Trailhead (9,600’):  15” at the SNOTEL.  19” at the GPTH Snowstake, 32 degrees at the Geyser Pass trailhead at 7:00 a.m.  42 degrees in Moab.

Gold Basin and South Mountain:  At least 28” of settled snow on the ground.

Pre-Laurel Peak Weather Station (11,705’):  Still Struggling with the weather station. Had contact, lost contact. The drama continues with new hardware.

 

Mountain Weather: (At 10,500’)

Today: Areas of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 38. Windy, with a southwest wind between 25 and 30 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Tonight: Periods of snow, mainly after midnight. Low around 18. Windy, with a south southwest wind between 30 and 35 mph, with gusts as high as 45 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.
Tuesday: Snow likely, mainly before noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high around 29. Windy, with a west southwest wind 25 to 30 mph decreasing to between 15 and 20 mph. Winds could gust as high as 45 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.

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

The warm temperatures have settled the new snow out quite a bit and on the sunny slopes a sun crust will lock things in greatly reducing the avalanche hazard and messing up and skiing there might have been in Julie’s or Goldminer’s. The danger zone will remain upper elevation E-N-NW facing slopes steeper that 35 degrees where high winds have deposited more snow and the warm temperatures and sun have the least effect. Expect to find a CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger on these upper elevation shady side slopes. Expect to find a MODERATE hazard elsewhere in the range, keeping an eye out for areas of wind drifted snow. I will update this message on Tuesday morning.