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 9th, 2006 at 8:00 am. 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 TO 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:

Conditions remain unchanged in the La Sals with a mixture of sun crusts, wind slabs and sastrugi above treeline. Conditions below treeline aren’t much better as the rotten base makes for very tricky conditions in the powder for skiing, boarding or snowmobiling out there. The trace of snow that fell yesterday afternoon won’t be enough to freshen up the mess that is our snowpack here in the La Sals.  The best ride out there is still on the packed out roads and trails of the La Sals. The cross-country and skate skiing are excellent.  We still need a good solid snowfall to cover most of the obstacles still present in the backcountry.  There is a chance of snow in the forecast for midweek and again this weekend so try to plan a sunny day activity somewhere and get it to snow.

The road to the Geyser Pass Trailhead has been plowed, but it is really slick in places, 4WD and chains are still recommended, especially for the ride down.   

Current Conditions: (click location for latest data)

Geyser Pass Trailhead (9,600’):  11.0” at the SNOTEL.  17” at the GPTH Snowstake, 11 degrees at the Geyser Pass trailhead at 7:00 a.m.  16 degrees in Moab.

Gold Basin and South Mountain:  At least 24” of settled snow on the ground.

Pre-Laurel Peak Weather Station (11,705’):  First information of the year!  Winds are out of the north at 10-20 mph.  Temperature is a chilly 7 degrees.  We’re not online with the information yet but stay tuned. Thank you Ed Grote for your assistance!

 

Mountain Weather: (At 10,500’)

Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 26. Northeast wind 5 to 15 mph becoming south southeast. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 12. Breezy, with a south southwest wind 5 to 10 mph increasing to between 15 and 20 mph.
Tuesday: Partly cloudy, with a high near 36. Breezy, with a west southwest wind between 15 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.

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

 

As High Pressure continues to dominate the weather in the SE Utah region the outlook for the snow sports in the La Sals becomes more and more grim. There were some large avalanche events last weekend due to the blowing snow and small storm that we had last weekend. With some extremely weak snowpack structures out there and our old buddy Mr. Wind still out there moving around what little snow we have, we are going to Keep the Avalanche Danger rating at MODERATE on E-NE-NW facing slopes steeper than 35 degrees. These slopes have the weakest underlying snow and tend to get the most snow drifted onto them by the wind. On the sunny side slopes SE-S-W facing slopes expect to find a LOW hazard of a human triggered avalanche.

 

We would like to invite everyone to attend a Basic Avalanche Awareness Seminar on Friday the 13th at the Moab Information Center at 7:00 PM. Free Admission.

 

You can also get this message by calling 435-259-7669