Avalanche Advisory
Advisory: Moab Area Mountains Issued by Eric Trenbeath for Thursday - February 15, 2018 - 6:39am
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The avalanche danger remains CONSIDERABLE today on steep slopes facing W-N-E at mid and upper elevations. New snow combined with winds have created dangerous avalanche conditions and human triggered avalanches, 1-3' deep, breaking on buried weak layers are likely in these areas. Cautious route finding and conservative decision making are essential. Stick to low angle slopes, ridge crests, and avoid areas with recently deposited, wind drifted snow.




special announcement

https://utahavalanchecenter.org/observations/36601 Episode 3 of the UAC podcast is live. We talk with UDOT Avalanche Program Supervisor Bill Nalli on how he and his teams keep the Greatest Snow on Earth from avalanching over the open roads and highways of the state. Check it out on ITunes, Stitcher, the UAC blog, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The UAC Marketplace is online. The holiday auction is closed, but our online marketplace still has deals on skis, packs, airbag packs, beacons, snowshoes, soft goods and much more.
current conditions

Skies are cloudy this morning and southwesterly ridge top winds are avearging 15-20 mph with gusts into the 30's. This storm is looking like a bit of a bust for us with a little over an inch overnight in Gold Basin and none at Geyser Pass Trailhead. 2-4" are possible today. It's currently 25 degrees at Geyser Pass Trailhead, and 16 on Pre Laurel Peak.

4-8" of heavy, dense snow fell on Monday. The high density snow made turning possible on lower angle terrain but coverage is still very thin. Winds have had their way with the high country, and lower angled, sheltered terrain provides the best, and safest source for amusement. For a detailed trip report from Tuesday go here.

Base depth at Geyser Pass Trailhead: 21"

Base depth in Gold Basin: 35"

New snow totals in Gold Basin.

Snow totals at the Geyser Pass Trailhead, (9600')

Wind, temperature, and humidity on Pre Laurel Peak (11,700')

Road conditions to Geyser Pass Trailhead: Grand Country plowed on Monday and the road is snowpacked. 4wd is still recommended.

Grooming conditions: Matt rolled out the trails into Gold Basin and over Geyser Pass Tuesday.

It's finally starting to look like winter up there!
Avalanche Problem 1
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

New snow amounts today will not likely increase the avalanche danger however, Monday's dense snow combined with strong southerly winds put the first significant load on our fragile snowpack. Collapsing was widespread on Tuesday, and stability tests showed a very unstable snowpack. Areas with weak, unstable snow exist on W-N-E facing slopes at mid and upper elevations, and human triggered avalanches from 1-3' deep are likely in these areas. It's not a pretty picture and even as things begin to quiet down, steep, northerly facing terrain will want to be avoided for the forseeable future.

This photo illustrates the layers that propagated with an extended column test.

Avalanche Problem 2
type aspect/elevation characteristics
LIKELIHOOD
LIKELY
UNLIKELY
SIZE
LARGE
SMALL
TREND
INCREASING DANGER
SAME
DECREASING DANGER
over the next 24 hours
description

Moderate to strong southerly winds over the past few days have blown the new snow into drifts, often depositing them further down slope than usual. These will be gaining strength but prudent travelers will continue to avoid areas that have a smooth, rounded appearance, or that look like likely deposition zones for wind drifted snow. A triggered wind slab also has the potential to step down creating a deeper, more dangerous, persistent slab avalanche.

weather
general announcements

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This information does not apply to developed ski areas or highways where avalanche control is normally done. This advisory is from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.