Manti-La Sal Avalanche Center

US Forest Service Manti-La Sal National Forest

Introduction:

Good morning! This is Max Forgensi with the USFS Manti-La Sal Avalanche Center with your avalanche and mountain weather advisory for the Wasatch Plateau/Manti Skyline Region, including but not limited to Fairview and Huntington Canyons. This advisory is brought to you through a partnership of the US Forest Service and Utah State Parks. Today is Saturday, January 10^th, 2004 at 7:30 a.m.

General Conditions:

Fog will remain in the valleys for the next day or two, while up on top of the Skyline, the weather should be quite pleasant and warm! Today is a great day to get your snowmobile out. Currently it is 19.4F at the Mammoth/Cottonwood stake, with 31.6” of snow on the ground. Up at the Miller Flat Reservoir, there is 39” of snow on the ground, and two inches have fallen since last weekend.

Mountain Weather:

There is high pressure in place through the forecast area into next week, and the lack of mixing in the air will cause the fog to stay in the valleys for quite some time.

Today: Partly Cloudy. Highs at 8,000’ will be in the upper 30’s.

Tonight: Mostly clear. Lows at 8,000’ near 20 degrees.

Sunday: Mostly sunny. Highs at 8,000’ will be in the 40’s.

Avalanche Conditions:

The last few days up at the Skyline has been very warm for this time of year. For the past two days the high temperatures have reached into the 50’s, which is great for settlement of the snow pack and allows it to gain strength in most areas. I observed numerous point releases on the side of the Huntington Canyon, a product of rapid rewarming. These point releases, also known as snowrollers, pinwheels or cinnamon rolls usually start from rocky outcroppings where the sun warms the rock, and are seen as a sign of instability. Up at the higher elevations, the cornices have done their cleaving and the natural avalanche cycle is finished. The snow pack has gained some strength on Northerly slopes and it looks like the trend is going to be towards even more strength. This all being said, I am going to rate the avalanche hazard for today at MODERATE on wind loaded slopes greater than 35 degrees. The rest of the areas I am going to rate as LOW.

Remember that a MODERATE rating still means that human triggered avalanches are possible and still to use extra caution when riding in avalanche terrain.

Public Announcements:

We have some great classes coming your way in January! And we just set one up in Ephraim in February! Take a look at our Education link on the main page. If you want to schedule a free avalanche awareness class for your snowmobile club, please call us at 435.636.3363 or leave an email at [email protected].