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 Sunday, March 20th at 8am. This advisory will expire in 24 hours.

 

The Lasaloppet, an 18-k Nordic race in the La Sal Mountains, is scheduled for Saturday, March 25th, 2006.  Please call McKay Edwards at (801) 588-0911 or [email protected] form more information. 

 

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. 

 

  

General Conditions:

Not much new to report as forecasted snowfall continues to miss, but fall all around, the La Sals and the Abajos. The San Juans have been picking p decent snowfall amounts that have mostly passed us by to the east and we’ve picked up only about an inch over the weekend. Good ski conditions prevail however with supportable crusts on S. Facing slopes and good settled powder skiing on NE – NW facing slopes. East and West facing slopes have breakable crusts on them to keep it real. The winds have lightened up and come around to a northerly breeze. The NWS is still calling for small amounts of snow at the upper elevations so keep your fingers crossed. The skate skiing is go to go on the Geyser Pass Trail as preparations for the Lasalloppet are under way and the snow cat has been working the trails (thanks McKay and Bob). The Geyser Pass Road is in great shape. Have Fun.

  Mountain Weather: (At 10,500’) –

Today: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 30. West wind between 5 and 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Tonight: A 30 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 15. Southwest wind between 10 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Tuesday: A 50 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high around 28. South southwest wind between 10 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.
Tuesday Night: Snow likely. Cloudy, with a low near 23. South wind 5 to 10 mph becoming northwest. Winds could gust as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Weather Station/ Location

Snow Depth (HS):  in./cm

New Snow (HN) in./cm

8:00 a.m. Temp (F)

Current Observations:  Wind, 48 hour snow

Geyser Pass Trailhead (9,600’): (snotel link)

47” 

trace

21

tr

Geyser Pass

80”

0

N/a 

tr 

Gold Basin and South Mountain

72”

0

n/a

tr

Pre-Laurel Peak Station (11,705’)

N/a 

N/a 

10 degrees @ 0800

Light Northerly   

 

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 some good skiing in SE Utah. 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 near treeline elevations and areas above treeline that have been loaded by recent South winds. On the sunny side slopes, it is the time of the year to be aware of the effects of temperature and solar radiation and be prepared to call it a day or move to less sunny slopes if and 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 if things warm up today (unlikely with forecast temps and cloud cover).  We’ll update this message tomorrow morning, thanks for checking in.