US Forest Service Manti-La Sal National
Forest
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Introduction: Good
morning, this is Dave Medara with the The
Lasaloppet, an 18-k Nordic race in the La Sal Mountains, is
scheduled for 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. Please give us your observations from
the field HERE. The more observations we get, the better
this forecast can be. |
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General Conditions: The forecast snowfall that was
supposed to arrive last night has not. This warm, slow moving storm still has
the potential to give us small amounts of snow into next week. Another warm
day to settle out the snow pack. Things are starting to consolidate in
thicker snowpack areas. The trap door has finally closed and the rotten snow
conditions are difficult to find now. Conditions are mostly supportable out
there these days and we are moving in to that great Southwestern snow mode of
corn snow on the sunny slopes and powder snow on the other side, on colder
NE-NW facing slopes. Yesterday on our tour we were able to find some great
powder skiing on N facing, open slopes below treeline. Skiing in the trees is
crusty due to re-radiation and snow falling off the trees. Over on the sunny
sides, crusts are getting supportable and corn skiing is coming into shape.
The crusts will be thin, so start early and finish early on the sunny SE-W
facing slopes. This dense, heavy snow
has brought our snowpack totals up to 93% of normal here in the La Sals and
43% of normal in the Abajos. The road
to the Mountain Weather: (At
10,500’) Today: Occasional snow. High near 43. Breezy, with a south
southwest wind between 15 and 25 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph. Chance of
precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible. |
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Weather Station/ Location |
Snow Depth (HS): in./cm |
New Snow (HN) in./cm |
6:00 a.m. Temp (F) |
Current Observations:
Wind, 48 hour snow |
|
Geyser
Pass Trailhead (9,600’): (snotel link) |
54” |
trace |
30 |
tr |
|
Geyser Pass |
200+ cm |
0 |
N/a |
tr |
|
|
78”/200 cm |
0 |
n/a |
tr |
|
N/a |
N/a |
16 |
20 – 30
mph southerly |
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Avalanche Conditions: (Link to the International
Avalanche Danger Scale here)
– The new snow from last week has
settled down into a bridge that has added a lot of strength to the snowpack.
Skiing on N. facing slopes is excellent. Skiing on S. facing slopes is
excellent. We are finally getting it in the La Sals. There are still areas of
weak snow underlying the bridge though, and if you are able to trigger
something in the La Sals it is likely to be very deep and nasty. There was
not a lot of avalanche activity associated with this storm, but a few of the
avalanches that did release were formidable.
Approach steep NE-NW facing slopes with caution. Take a look at the
snowpack. Thinner, weaker snowpack areas are likely trigger points. Keep in
the back of your mind that an avalanche IS possible on slopes steeper than 30
degrees in the La Sals. Danger areas are NE-NW facing slopes in the near
treeline elevations and areas above treeline that have been loaded by recent
South winds. On the sunny side slopes, be aware of the effects of temperature
and solar radiation and be prepared to call it a day or move to less sunny
slopes when things get sloppy. Today’s Bottom line: The avalanche
danger on E-NW facing slopes is MODERATE W/ Pockets of CONSIDERABLE
above treeline elevations. On the sunny side slopes, expect the avalanche
danger to start off LOW and progress
to MODERATE
as things warm up today. We’ll
update this message tomorrow morning, thanks for checking in. |