Moab

The snowpack is generally stable and the avalanche danger is LOW. Two concerns are (1) wet-loose avalanches on steep sun-exposed slopes that face W-S-E, and (2) isolated pockets of wind-drifted snow in exposed terrain at the upper elevations.

A solid overnight refreeze should keep wet snow at bay today, but if you find yourself in steep, sunlit terrain today, keep an eye on the snow surface. If you start seeing signs that the snow surface becoming damp and unsupportable, it's time to re-evaluate your terrain and change your aspect to a cooler, more shady slope.

Risk is inherent in mountain travel; getting caught in even a small avalanche could have serious consequences in steep, rocky terrain.

Geyser Pass Road: The road is open. 4x4 recommended. Expect the road to be wet, sloppy, and muddy in the afternoon.

Grooming: Trails were groomed into Gold Basin on Wednesday.

No new avalanches were reported yesterday.

On Friday, a solo skier triggered this shallow, soft slab of wind-drifted snow in Old Reliable on an NNE aspect at 11,300 ft.

See the La Sal avalanche database here.

6:00 a.m. Snow and Weather Data

24 Hour Snow 0" 72 Hour Snow 0" Season Total Snow 315" Base Depth at Gold Basin 104"

Temp 20 F Winds on Pre-Laurel Peak: NW 12 G 15

Weather

This morning, mountain temperatures are currently hovering around 20 F in Gold Basin. Winds transitioned more west-northwesterly overnight, and are now averaging near 10 mph with gusts near 15 mph.

Today, skies will be mostly sunny, with temperatures climbing into the low to mid-40s. The northwest winds should remain calm, averaging 5-10 mph. While today will be warm, the big warm-up comes over the next 4 days as mountain temperatures could reach the 50s F.

General Conditions

Strong winds, warm temperatures, and intense April sun are taking a toll on the snowpack. Yesterday, we found high-elevation North faces to have the best snow. Lose some elevation, and the skiing gets slow and manky. With cooler overnight temperatures, solar aspects will be crusted over this morning. You can travel safely on the solars early in the day, but as things heat up you may want to move to more Northerly aspects to avoid wet avalanche activity. You may still encounter shallow, soft slabs of wind-drifted snow in isolated areas on slopes with a Northerly or Easterly component to their aspect.

With the incoming extremely warm weather, I would expect avalanche danger to be on the rise again early next week.

Snowpack and Weather Data

Gold Basin Storm Stake (10,000')

Gold Basin SNOTEL site (10,000')

SNOTEL site near Geyser Pass Winter Trailhead (9600')

Wind Station on Pre-Laurel Peak (11,400')

NWS forecast for the La Sal Mountains.

This graph is from the Snotel site near the Geyser Pass Winter TH. The black line is our current season. Total SWE is 230% of normal.

This forecast is from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This forecast describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur. This forecast will be updated by 7:30 tomorrow morning.