Introduction: Good afternon, this is Max Forgensi with the USFS Manti-La Sal Avalanche Center with your avalanche and mountain weather advisory. Today is Thursday, February 22^nd, at 4:00 pm. This advisory will expire in 24 hours. We will update this advisory Friday afternoon or Saturday morning.

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.

We’ve re-scheduled our Level I American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education Course for March 2-4 here in Moab. Cost will be 130$. SMOKIN’ deal. Give us a call at 435-636-3363 to sign up or get more info.

General Conditions:

Tuesday was an incredible day to get into the backcountry. No winds, warm temperatures and great coverage made for a great tour. By 13:00, the sun was so intense on West aspects that the 6” of fresh powder was already changing. Skins were glopping up on the way out. You will definitely find some great turns on North through East aspects where the sun has yet to rear its rays while on West through South aspects expect wet, heavy snow.

L.U.N.A. was up Monday. The meadow loop has been groomed after the storm. Friday the whole track is going to get some fresh corduroy. Mark your calendars for the Lasaloppet on March 24^th!

The Grand County Road Department plowed the road Tuesday and its in great shape although 4WD is recommended.

Mountain Weather: (At 10,500’)

This Afternoon: Partly cloudy, with a high near 49. South southwest wind around 15 mph.
Tonight: Increasing clouds, with a low around 19. South southwest wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph.
Friday: Periods of snow, mainly after 11am. High near 24. Breezy, with a south wind 15 to 20 mph becoming west. Winds could gust as high as 35 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 4 to 8 inches possible.
Friday Night: Snow likely, mainly before 11pm. Cloudy, with a low around 8. Breezy, with a west northwest wind 15 to 20 mph decreasing to between 5 and 10 mph. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 7 inches possible.

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)	25.4”	0”	25.2	6” of fresh Mon night!
Geyser Pass	46”/115	0	N/a	Powder!
Gold Basin and South Mountain	46”/115	0	n/a	Great skiing conditions
Pre-Laurel Peak Station (11,705’)	N/a	N/a	19	Winds out of the W at 14 gusts to 26

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

The La Sal Mountain’s were eerily quiet Tueday when it came to avalanche activity. There was one tiny failure in Exxon’s Folly…that’s it. You could tell that all of the alpine bowls were wind-loaded, but not loaded enough. There are plenty of weaknesses within the snow pack. Telluride had numerous avalanches fail on old snow surfaces yesterday & quite big. In Utah, we have had human triggered avalanches for the past 11 days in a row. What we are waiting for is a trigger: new snow, more wind loading (or a combination of the two) or a HUMAN TRIGGER. For the next two days, human triggered avalanches will be possible, while natural avalanches will be unlikely. The BOTTOM LINE for today will be an AVALANCE DANGER of CONSIDERABLE in the alpine on steep slopes greater than 35 degrees on North-East aspects. I wouldn’t touch those areas with a 1000’ pole. The rest of the range has an avalanche danger of MODERATE. Be extra careful on at & above tree-line N-NE-E aspects where trigger points and bad consequences exist. In the afternoon, the warm weather will promote wet loose point releases on West through South aspects.