Moab

Snow and changing avalanche conditions on the horizon!

The avalanche danger remains LOW on all aspects and elevations. Unstable areas of wind drifted snow may exist on isolated terrain features in upper elevation, wind exposed terrain. Anticipate steadily increasing danger over the next several days.

Road Conditions: The road to Geyser Pass Trailhead is mostly down to the dirt. Some patchy areas of packed snow and ice remain and they are slick. AWD and good tires are recommended.

Grooming: Trails were groomed into Gold Basin on Friday.

6:00 a.m. weather data:

24 Hour Snow 0" 72 Hour Snow 0" Base Depth at Gold Basin 41" Wind SE 15-20 Temp 24F

Southerly winds were on the increase yesterday and by evening clouds had begun to move in ahead of a multi-day storm cycle set to impact the region. Today will be warm, cloudy, and windy as the first wave approaches. The primary impacts will affect areas to the north and then east of us but we should still see some snow with showers developing after sunset and lingering into Tuesday. 4"-6" seems a fair bet. The main event arrives late Tuesday and extends through Wednesday as the main trough to the west dives southward. Southwest flow and good jet support should give us a good shot of much needed snow and I'm thinking 6"-10" look likely at this time.

NWS Weather Forecast for the La Sal Mountains

Gold Basin SNOTEL site (10,000')

Storm Totals in Gold Basin

Wind Station on Pre Laurel Peak (11,700')

Snowpack

With snow finally in the forecast, our attention remains focused on the loose, sugary, faceted snow that has formed near the surface during this extended period of high pressure. As new snow starts to accumulate we'll need to pay close attention to how it interacts with the old snow surface. The weakest snow can be found on shady, northerly aspects right around treeline and below. In some of these areas, the entire snowpack has become loose and faceted. Above treeline, conditions are much more variable ranging from from wind scoured and sun crusted, to boiler plate. Where crusts are thin, the snow is faceting underneath. This makes mapping of this future weak layer tricky. Generally speaking, the more sheltered the area, the more likely the the surface is to be weak and faceted.

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This forecast is from the U.S. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This forecast describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.