Angels Landing

The only real issue this trip is the Flood Warning issued last night at 10:28 PM MST, active until 8 AM MST this morning. That warning reflects elevated water from a recent precipitation event moving through the canyon system. The Virgin River at the bottom of Angels Landing is the choke point — if it's running brown and fast when you arrive, hold at the trailhead and let it drop. Post-flood flows in Zion's Narrows-adjacent canyon can stay elevated for 6-12 hours after a warning lifts, so even if the official warning expires, use your eyes at the crossing. If it looks sketchy, it is sketchy.

The stream gauge data in the briefing is pulling from Central California watersheds and has no bearing on Zion Canyon conditions — disregard those numbers entirely. The relevant question is what the Virgin River is doing at the canyon floor, and that's a boots-on-the-ground call today. Check with the Zion Visitor Center when you arrive; rangers will have current river status and will tell you straight.

Once you're past the flood question, the forecast is genuinely clean. Highs of 50-52°F and lows of 32-33°F through Wednesday, sunny to mostly sunny each day, winds under 10 mph throughout. No precipitation in the window. No fires within 50 miles. Zero snowpack at any SNOTEL station near the elevation band you're operating in. The cold overnight lows (32°F) mean frost on the chains section is possible in the early morning — plan your summit push for after 9 AM to let the sun hit the rock and melt any overnight ice on the exposed traverse.

Daylight is your other constraint: sunset at 5:34 PM with usable light gone by 5:40. You've got 10.6 hours of daylight, which is workable but tight if you're camping below and doing the summit as a day excursion from camp. Start the summit push no later than noon to give yourself a comfortable buffer. The last chain section in fading light on cold rock is not where you want to be cutting it close.