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 Friday, January 13th, 2006 at 8:30 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 relatively 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. The strong N winds yesterday will have moved a little snow around, but the bottom line is that there simply isn’t much snow to move around and what is there is crusted over and staying put. The plus side is that we live in Moab, and when old man winter passes us by, we’ve got LOTS of options, which is good, because our snowpack stands currently at 72% of normal. Next good chance for snow is Sunday night.

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’):  10.5” at the SNOTEL.  16” at the GPTH Snowstake, 22 degrees at the Geyser Pass trailhead at 7:00 a.m.  22 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 northwest at 15-25 mph.  Temperature at 11,600’ is 19 degrees.  We’re not online with the information yet but stay tuned.

 

Mountain Weather: (At 10,500’)

Today: Mostly sunny, with a high around 41. East southeast wind around 10 mph becoming south southwest.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 23. South wind between 10 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
Saturday: Partly cloudy, with a high near 39. Breezy, with a south wind between 15 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph.
Saturday Night: A 20 percent chance of snow after midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low near 26. Breezy, with a south southwest wind between 20 and 25 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph.

 

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

            Once again, we didn’t get the new snow. The San Juan Mountains picked up 1-3” on Wd. Night while we sat high and dry. Meanwhile, our snowpack continues to sit and rot weakening even more. There are a few areas where wind slabs have been built up over this weak snow and it would be possible for the weight of a skier or snowmobile to trigger an avalanche. These slabs are not super widespread, but explosive testing and control work in the San Juan Mountains continue to produce significant avalanche activity. The snowpack in the San Juan is very similar to ours. Areas where smooth, rounded, perhaps hollow sounding pillows of snow have been built up are best avoided.  The Bottom Line is that while avalanche dangers are very limited, we are hesitant to lower the danger rating due to the avalanche activity that continues in our (much bigger) sister range. We are calling the avalanche danger MODERATE on all slopes steeper than 35 degrees. Most of the snow we have is on our E-N-NW facing aspects, and our prevailing S winds pile the snow up on this aspect. Keep in mind however, that some strong winds blew from the North yesterday so there may be a few “skier education pockets” out there on SE – SW facing slopes as well. Keep your fingers crossed for snow later this weekend!

 

MLAC NEWS: We have started an observer page for folks to send us their backcountry observations. Report what you see in your backcountry travels HERE. Please send us your reports on avalanches, ski conditions, road conditions, snow pit profiles etc. Thanks!

 

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