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, April 3rd at 11am. This advisory will expire in 24 hours.

 

CHECK OUT OUR NEW GROOMING EQUIPMENT HERE. Check out photos of a large avalanche in Dorry Canyon here.

 

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:

A beautiful day in SE Utah Yesterday is giving way to some clouds today ahead of the next system that is supposed to arrive here on Tuesday. After a slow start, winter is putting the hammer down late this season here in the La Sals with 1.1 inches of water in a heavy, dense snow layer from this last storm and a snowy week ahead. The Abajos rec’d over 2” of water from this last storm. This brings us up to 87% of normal here in the La Sals and 64% of normal in the Abajos. Not great numbers, but an improvement over an otherwise dismal season. There is still good powder skiing and riding conditions on colder (E-NW facing) slopes in SE Utah. Corn skiing will take a few more sunny days to develop and it looks like that will be on hold until the weekend at best with cloudy weather on tap for what looks like the bulk of the work week. The road to the Geyser Pass Trailhead is clear, but expect sloppy conditions in the PM hours.

 

Mountain Weather: (At 10,500’)
Today: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 41. Breezy, with a south southwest wind around 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 21. Breezy, with a south southwest wind between 15 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
Tuesday: A chance of snow, mixing with rain after
noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 44. Windy, with a south southwest wind 15 to 20 mph increasing to between 25 and 30 mph. Winds could gust as high as 45 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Tuesday Night: A 40 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low near 26. Very windy, with a south southwest wind 30 to 35 mph increasing to between 40 and 45 mph. Winds could gust as high as 60 mph.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

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)

42” 

0

37

Overcast

Geyser Pass

83” est

 

N/a 

Settled Powder

Gold Basin and South Mountain

56” /143cm

0

n/a

 

Pre-Laurel Peak Station (11,705’)

N/a 

N/a 

26

20-30 mph @ SSW

 

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

 

Avalanche conditions are a big mixed bag out there still with frozen south and west facing slopes, and dry to damp powder on NE-NW facing slopes. Breakable crust on E-S-W facing slopes right now will deter all but the hardiest of skiers to more northerly aspects. We’ve known that the snow at and around treeline has been the weakest all year and we found just that on a lower elevation tour in Miner’s Basin where we found some old, rotten faceted snow near the ground, experienced collapsing and got scared. There have been recent large avalanches in the San Juans and the Abajo Mountains. Winter is still clinging to life on some of the colder mountain slopes in the Southwest. We are currently calling the Avalanche hazard in the Mountains of SE Utah MODERATE with pockets of CONSIDERABLE on E-NW facing slopes. These pockets of increased snow instability are likely to be found at middle elevations, from 9500-11,500 feet. The upper elevation snowpack appears to be stronger, at least in Gold Basin. It’s not a green light out there yet folks, so travel in the mountains with caution Powder Hounds. We’ll update this message Wednesday Morning.