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 Wednesday, March 28th, at 8:00 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. 

  

General Conditions:

It is a return to winter in the La Sals this morning with what looks like 6-8” of new snow showing on the Geyser Pass Trailhead Snotel Site. This may be the last powder on offer this winter so if you’re not completely over it, today and tomorrow might be good days to the dust off the skis or the sled and head up to the mountains for some skiing or riding. Cold temperatures and snowy conditions should keep the snow good through Friday at least. This last snow brings us up to about 32% of normal snowpack on the season.

 

Expect a snowy drive up the Geyser Pass Trailhead this morning. 4wd recommended.

 

The grooming program is all finished for this season. We are going up today to start bringing down the equipment.

 

Mountain Weather: (At 10,500’)

Today: Periods of snow showers. High near 30. Breezy, with a south wind 15 to 20 mph becoming west. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.
Tonight: A 50 percent chance of snow showers. Cloudy, with a low around 14. Breezy, with a west wind between 15 and 20 mph. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.
Thursday: A 50 percent chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 31. North northwest wind between 10 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.
Thursday Night: A 20 percent chance of snow showers before midnight. Partly cloudy, with a low around 14. North northwest wind between 5 and 10 mph.
Friday: Partly cloudy, with a high near 31. Northwest wind between 5 and 10 mph.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Weather Station/ Location

Snow Depth (HS):  in./cm

New Snow (HN) in./cm

7:00 a.m. Temp (F)

Current Observations:  Wind, 48 hour snow

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

14”

6-8”

17.1

Powder over crusts

Geyser Pass

 

~

N/a 

Powder

Gold Basin and South Mountain

40”

6-8”

n/a

Powder

Pre-Laurel Peak Station (11,705’)

N/a 

N/a 

5.5

17 mph Southerly gust 37

 

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

Old Man winter is trying to flex a little late season muscle and will continue to do so for the next day or two. With 7” of snow measured at the Geyser Pass Snotel site you can bet there will be more up high. Winds have been sustained out of the south and over the wind slab building threshold of 15 mph for 12 of the last 13 hours. Even though it’s late season, the snow has never gotten deep enough to gin much strength this winter. Expect to find a CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger on steep slopes above treeline on North East Through North West facing slopes. A CONSIDERABLE hazard will also be found on Easterly and Westerly facing slopes cross loaded by strong winds. Expect to find a MODERATE hazard elsewhere. These danger ratings may be a bit understated depending on what we find today at upper elevations. Don’t let the late season fool you. This new snow load is falling on a snowpack that is quite a bit weaker than we can normally expect for this time of year. Keep your lines conservative until you get some good information to back up your decision to enter avalanche terrain. We’ll update this message Saturday morning.