US Forest Service Manti-La Sal National
Forest
US Forest Service Manti-La Sal National
Forest
Introduction:
Good
morning, this is Dave Medara with the
If you
have been out in the backcountry, please post your OBSERVATIONS with us!
To
check out past advisories, go to ARCHIVE. To check out the current, go to our WEATHER page.
If you
would like to see some SNOWPIT
profiles, click the link…and more to come.
Current
Conditions:
Winter has finally dropped
enough snow to go out and play around in on the
Manti Skyline. We are experiencing the best conditionsd of the year
right now. Yeehaw. I was up near the skyline summit on Thursday and had a
couple of the best ski runs of the season. That being said, I also kept the
slope angles below 30 Degrees and still experienced a lot of cracking and collapsing
of the snow pack. Cold and cloudy conditions will have kept the powder
pristine, but don’t let this season’s lack of snow push you into
situations that you shouldn’t be in. Read on for more avalanche
information.
Click the links below to find out
up to date information at these weather stations on the Skyline.
Mammoth/Cottonwood SNOTEL
(8,800’): 46” of snow on the ground. It is 1 degree out at
Seeley Creek SNOTEL (10,000’):
There is 24” of snow on the ground. It is 7 degrees out at
There is 48” of snow on the ground at the Miller Flat Trailhead.
Mountain
Weather:
Today: Partly cloudy. Highs at 8000 feet
around 30.
Tonight: Partly cloudy. Lows at 8000 feet 10 to 15.
Sunday: Mostly sunny. Warmer. Highs at 8000 feet in the mid 40s.
Sunday night: Partly cloudy. Lows at 8000 feet in the mid 20s.
Monday: Partly cloudy. Highs at 8000 feet around 40.
Monday
night: Mostly
cloudy. Lows at 8000 feet in the mid 20s.
Avalanche
Conditions: (Click here
for the International Avalanche Danger Scale)
Ok Everyone. Throttle back and listen to this. The avalanche danger on
the Manti Skyline right now is CONSIDERABLE, meaning
that human triggered avalanches are likely on steep slopes over 30 degrees on
the Wasatch Plateau. I think we are near the high end of that rating as well. Winds
have been out of the south, west and north over the last few days and there has
been a lot of snow being blown around. It will be hard to pin down the avalanche
hazard to only one aspect, but the avalanches I observed on Thursday were on
Northerly aspects where the snow seems to be weakest. We are dealing with 3 distinct
problems here right now. First is the storm snow and blowing snow we’ve
had this week and the snow instability associated with it. Second is the
possibility of deep slab avalanches ripping most or all of the season’s
snow because of the weak snow crystals that have formed this year in the lower
snowpack. Scenario #1 could result in Scenario #2 with serious and unsurvivable
results. The third problem as always on the skyline is large, overhanging and
sensitive cornices. We’ve had some very close calls along the Skyline
over the last couple of weekends, so take it easy out there. Really. We’ll
update this message tomorrow morning.
*The
advisory is also available via recorded message at (888) 999-4019