Moab Winter Condition Update 1-22-20

Weather

Just when you think winter was starting to relax a little down in the valley, we pick up a few more inches of snow! It’s different this time though because temperatures are warmer than we have seen all year. It’s not going to last for a month this time. Moab is forecast to see highs in the 40s through this weekend and lows in the mid 20s. The NOAA Point forecast for 10’000 shows lows in the teens and highs in the mid to upper 20s. I am sure there will be some wind, it is the mountains after all. No storms till at least next week will make for some nice weather for recreating.

Roads

Geyser pass road was plowed today, and we really appreciate that access! Don’t forget to watch the edge if you are passing someone, it is easy to drop a tire of the gravel edge and it can be tricky getting back up, or worse, roll your vehicle over on its side in the snow. There have been quite a few stuck rigs so far this year as evidenced by craters from the recovery effort. Luckily, the berm is pretty stout in a majority of places and I bet it would be hard to go over the edge if you tried. Big berms mean narrow roads though so please travel courteously.

Grooming

LUNA groomed the Geyser Pass Trails today, thanks! If you would like to contribute to their organization we are taking donations at the front counter. You can also setup your consignment account to automatically donate a percentage of your sales to them or other local charities. Grooming from the Dalton Springs trailhead outside of Monticello has been occurring regularly, and I found nice classic tracks and even corduroy further up the trail on Monday.

Avalanche

With new snow comes increased avalanche risk. If you choose to head into avalanche terrain, please don’t forget to visit our own LOCAL avalanche forecast: https://utahavalanchecenter.org/advisory/moab. There you can also find weather, road, grooming, and backcountry ski conditions.

Snowpack

Most river basins in the west are at or above average!

Zooming in on the Upper Colorado, things look even better:

And finally, on our local watershed, NRCS maps show the La Sals at 109% and the Abajos at 208%. Take a look at how big 2019 was compared to 2017 in this CBRFC graph: