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 with your avalanche and mountain
weather advisory for the Wasatch Plateau/Manti Skyline Region, including, but
not limited to Ephraim, Huntington and Fairview Canyons. This advisory is brought to you through a
partnership of
To
check out past advisories, go to ARCHIVE. To check out the current, go to our WEATHER page.
Current
Conditions:
Today will be a perfect day to
get out and enjoy the Manti-Skyline. The
snow is staying cold and most of the ground hazards above 9,000’ is covered by a very supportable base with 4”-5” of powder
on top of that. Miller Flat Trailhead
has 26” of snow on the ground. Coverage
around the Lake Canyon Trailhead is
great as well. The snow up in the
upper-elevation bowls is gaining strength, read on to the avalanche conditions
for more information.
Click the links below to find out
up to date information at these weather stations on the Skyline.
Mammoth/Cottonwood SNOTEL
(8,800’): 20.3” of snow on the ground,
21degrees at
Seeley Creek SNOTEL (10,000’):
There is 18.5” of snow on the ground, 27 degrees at
Mountain
Weather:
Today...Partly cloudy. Highs at 8000 feet
in the lower 40s.
Tonight...Partly
cloudy. Lows at 8000 feet near 20.
Monday...Partly
cloudy. Highs at 8000 feet in the lower 40s.
Monday Night...Mostly
cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow. Lows at 8000 feet
15-20.
Avalanche
Conditions: (Click here for the International
Avalanche Danger Scale)
There
was a fair amount of avalanche activity from the storm cycle of last weekend
and from Tuesday’s snow. Some cornices
did fail and there was one avalanche observed that ran wall-to-wall and to the
ground in the middle part of the chute.
It failed on a NE aspect, at a convexity on a 35 degree slope right at
10,000’. The avalanche was at least
1,200’ wide and ran for 500’. The crown was anywhere
from 1’-3’ deep. The avalanche was
classified as SS-N-R4-D3-G. It appears
that the heavy snow from last weekend has bonded pretty well with the snow
close to the ground, although if it did fail, the consequences could be big. There was another avalanche that failed to
the ground on a Northwest aspect on the
The Bottom Line for Saturday is going to be
a MODERATE avalanche danger on steep slopes greater
than 35 degrees on NW-N-E aspects above 9,500’.
Be careful of heavily loaded terrain features on these slopes such as
convexities (or rollovers). Sparse trees
will act as weak points and the crown of the avalanche will connect these weak
points to each other. If you are going
out to do some high-marking, make sure your snowmobile is well away from the
run-out zones of avalanche paths and facing away from the danger. I always like to rest against the handle bars
myself. Everywhere else, I am going to
rate the danger at LOW.
*The advisory is also
available via recorded message at (800) 648-7433