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, February 25th, at 6:30 AM. This advisory will expire in 24 hours.

 

CHECK OUT OUR NEW GROOMING EQUIPMENT 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. 

 

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:

Powder conditions will be the condition de Jour, at least until we get warming on the sunny slopes, where things will cook down and get moving quickly. PLEASE read or listen on to avalanche conditions below. We’ve got a lot to say.

 

The road to the Geyser Pass Trailhead will be snowy and 4wd is recommended today.

 

Forget about groomed trails until the groomers get up there on Monday.

 

Mountain Weather: (At 10,500’)

Today...Partly sunny. Highs in the 30s. South winds 10 to 15 mph with gusts to around 30 mph.
Tonight...Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow. Lows 10 to 20. West winds 10 to 15 mph with gusts to around 30 mph.
Monday...Partly sunny in the morning then becoming mostly sunny. Highs in the 30s. Southwest winds 10 to 15 mph in the afternoon. Gusts up to 25 mph.
Monday Night...Partly cloudy. Lows 10 to 20.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

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)

32.5”

11”

20

Powder

Geyser Pass

55”

11”

N/a 

Facets, powder

Gold Basin and South Mountain

55”

11”

n/a

Facets, Powder

Pre-Laurel Peak Station (11,705’)

N/a 

N/a 

13

18mph SSW, Gust 46. Large Plumes

 

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

The snow has finally come. With 11” of new snow and .8” of new water weight added the snowpack Critical values of formation of widespread avalanching have been reached. This alone warrants an Avalanche Danger rating of HIGH on all slopes steeper than 30 Degrees in the La Sal Mountains. It seems that the La Sals finally picked up the high snow total and we’ve gotten more than the San Juans to our east or the Abajos to the south. This new snow has fallen onto and extremely weak under lying snowpack, which is typical for our area of the southwest. Avalanches are possible with the new snow, especially on North facing slopes as our winds have shifted to southerly in advance of the next storm system. Warming today will be another factor. It has been cold, and when the sun comes out after a storm cycle, stretching of slabs and weakening of old/new snow bonds can occur resulting in another possible avalanche trigger.  There have been four avalanche fatalities in the State of Utah this week. We cannot stress it enough, stay away from steep slopes in the La Sal mountains right now and let things settle out a little bit. We’ll be out and about in the La Sals today and will update this message tomorrow morning with some fresh observations from the mountains. Thanks for checking in AND take it easy out there.