US Forest Service Manti-La Sal National Forest

Introduction:

Good morning, this is Dave Medara 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 Ephraim, Huntington and Fairview Canyons. This advisory is brought to you through a partnership of Utah State Parks and the USFS. Today is Saturday, March 4th, 2006, at 8:00 am.

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:

It looks like 1-3 inches of warm, windblown snow has fallen overnight which will improve the skiing, riding, or snowmobiling. The State Ride last weekend had a great turnout, and it looks like they tracked everything out close to Highway 31 and down towards the south. New snow this week and last night won’t be enough to cover up most of the tracks except in wind affected areas up high on the skyline.

Snow conditions today will be a mixed bag of supportable and breakable sun crusts on South and West facing slopes, capped by some wet, dense new snow. East and North facing slopes will also have a crust with a “cap” of dense snow on top of it. This pervasive crust from the rain this week will be with us for a while. More snow is in the forecast for this week so, look for increasingly good conditions. Winds will be a bit quieter up on the skyline today.

Click the links below to find out up to date information at these weather stations on the Skyline.

Mammoth/Cottonwood SNOTEL (8,800’): 52” of snow on the ground. It is 19 degrees out at 7:00 am.

Seeley Creek SNOTEL (10,000’): There is 34.5” of snow on the ground. It is 17 degrees out at 7:00 am.

There is 57” of snow on the ground at the Miller Flat Trailhead.

Mountain Weather:

Today...Mostly cloudy. A 30 percent chance of snow in the early morning. Cooler. Highs at 8000 feet in the lower to mid 30s.
Tonight...Partly cloudy. Lows at 8000 feet 15-20.
Sunday...Partly cloudy. Highs at 8000 feet around 40.
Sunday Night...Partly cloudy. Lows at 8000 feet in the mid 20s.

Avalanche Conditions: (Click here for the International Avalanche Danger Scale)

With the new dense snow and a bit of wind we’ll see the avalanche hazard start to creep upwards today. The ice crust in the snowpack now should be suspect and is a potential sliding layer. Cornices and wind loaded slopes will be the likely culprits today for failure. This will be more likely as the day progresses and the snow heats up and loses some of it’s cohesion. Today we are calling the avalanche danger MODERATE, with an increasing trend as the day progresses. This is the time of year that we have to start thinking about daily warming cycles and the changes they make in the snow. Thanks for checking in.

*The advisory is also available via recorded message at (800) 648-7433