Moab

The avalanche danger is LOW and human triggered avalanches are unlikely.

Conditions remain very thin, and rocks, stumps, and logs lurk below the surface everywhere. Exercise extreme caution when getting around.

Geyser Pass Road Conditions: The road is mostly dry dirt with a few sections of packed snow and ice up high. All wheel drive and good tires are recommended.

Grooming: Trails were last groomed a week ago. Rain and recent cold temperatures have hardened the surface.

Friday, January 30 - Saturday, January 31 - Moab Backcountry 101 Class - Our annual local backcountry avalanche class. Click here for information and registration. Moab and Monticello locals can use the discount code MOAB-LOCAL for a 10% discount.

No recent activity has been observed. Click here for the complete avalanche database.

24 Hour Snow: 0" 72 Hour Snow: 0" Season Total Snow: 22" Depth at Gold Basin: 12"

Winds on Pre-Laurel Peak: N/A Temp: 14° F

Weather

Under clear skies mountain temperatures are in the mid teens. After cranking in the 30-40 mph range yesterday, ridge top winds blowing from the north have backed off into the teens as well. Today, look for sunny skies, light northerly winds, and warming temperatures up to around 30°F at 10,000 feet. High pressure will be with us for the next few days. By New Year's Eve, models are indicating the start of an unsettled, and potentially more active weather pattern. Stay tuned.

General Conditions

I can't sum it up any better than Dave, "the skiing is about as bad as it gets right now." For the gritty details see his observation from Friday. With a snowpack at 49% of normal and rain on Christmas to over 11,000 feet it's beyond rugged out there. I took a trip down to the Abajos on Saturday where there is a similar snowpack and I found shallow conditions, bare solar aspects, and a heavily rimed and rain crusted snow surface. Venturing up to Abajo Peak to de-rime the wind station felt like a trip to Ice Station Zebra on the North Pole. Snow below the crusted surface is faceted through to the ground and like the La Sals, average depths where there is snow cover range from about 6 inches at 9000 feet to around 20 inches above 11,000 feet. Read my full observation here.

Rimed wind station on Abajo Peak. Pre-Laurel no doubt looks the same. I'll be heading up there today to take care of it.

In the video below, Dave discusses the state of the snowpack and the Christmas rain crust.

Snowpack and Weather Data

NEW! Gold Basin webcam storm stake

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.

And finally, in case you're living in a bubble and thought we were all alone in this, the screenshot below is of SNOTEL sites throughout the west. Red indicates below 50% of normal snowpack.

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.