US Forest Service Manti-La Sal National Forest

Good morning, this 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 Sunday, December 31st, 2006, at 7:30 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 weather, go to our WEATHER page.

For more information on snowmobiling on the Skyline, click this LINK

Current Conditions:

It’s a mixed bag of conditions out there right now folks, Hard wind packed snow to rotten, hollow sugar and everything in between. There’s been about 4” of new snow since Christmas, but the wind has been the big player over the last few days, either stripping or loading upper elevation slopes and damaging ski and riding conditions. It’s really a mess out there on the Skyline right now, and this place needs some more snow. Unfortunately there isn’t much snow in the forecast currently. There is very thin cover out on the Skyline right now with average snow depth of less than 2 feet so take it easy out there with your new Christmas toys.

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

Mammoth/Cottonwood SNOTEL (8,800’): 23” snow, 21 degrees out @ 7:00 a.m.

Seeley Creek SNOTEL (10,000’): 21.5 on the ground, winds are 14 mph from the WNW, 26 degrees @ 7:00 a.m.

Miller Flat Trailhead: 21” of snow on the ground.

Mountain Weather:

Today: Partly cloudy. South wind 6 mph. High 37.
Tonight: Partly cloudy. Slight chance of snow. Probability of measurable precipitation 20 percent. South wind 3 mph. Low 13.
New Years Day: Partly cloudy. Slight chance of snow. Snow accumulation 1 inch. Probability of measurable precipitation 20 percent. North wind 6 mph. High 27.
Monday Night: Partly cloudy. Light wind. Low 11.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny. Southeast wind 6 mph. High 30.

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

With the underlying weak snow in many areas and all of the wind moving snow around a betting man would have to say there are avalanches possible out there. The question is where? I‘d be most suspect of upper elevation SE – NE facing slopes where there is evidence of wind loading. Yesterday’s westerly winds will help intensify the potential on these slopes. This loading will be evident in the form of rounded, possibly hollow sounding pillows of smooth looking snow. These areas of snow, or slabs, may be pushed a bit father down slope than usual due to high winds and there may be the odd “sledder education pocket” on SW facing slopes as well due to the East winds we’ve had. We are calling the avalanche danger on the Manti-Skyline today MODERATE, which means that human triggered avalanches are possible. The hazard will be spotty and inconsistent dependent on where the winds have deposited the snow. Take care around cornices and have a look before you jump one, there could be a surprise waiting below. We’ll update this message tomorrow morning.

The advisory is also available via recorded message at (888) 999-4019 option 6 or at (800) 648-7433 (OHV-RIDE)