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 Saturday, March 17thth, 2007 at 8:00 a.m.    

             

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

 

  

General Conditions:

               A week of warm weather has a dramatic effect on the snowpack across the Skyline with snowfall losses of 3-8” registering on our weather stations. Temperatures will remain warm until a system on Tuesday that will cool things off a bit to seasonal temperatures and maybe even give us a little snow. For now expect melt-freeze conditions with a thin crust on the surface at best due to a poor freeze last night. Again, bring the sunscreen and good luck keeping your sled cooled off.

Mountain Weather:

Today: Sunny. Highs at 8000 feet around 60.
Tonight: Mostly clear. Lows at 8000 feet in the mid 30s.
Sunday: Mostly sunny. Highs at 8000 feet in the upper 50s.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy. Lows at 8000 feet in the lower 30s.
Monday: Partly cloudy. Highs at 8000 feet in the upper 50s.
Monday Night: Partly cloudy. Lows at 8000 feet in the mid 30s.
Tuesday: Mostly cloudy. A 30 percent chance of thunderstorms and rain and snow showers in the afternoon. Highs at 8000 feet in the lower 50s.
Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy. A chance of thunderstorms and snow showers in the evening...then a chance of snow showers after midnight. Lows at 8000 feet in the lower 20s. Chance of precipitation 50 percent.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Weather Station/ Location

Snow Depth (HS):  in./cm

New Snow (HN) in./cm

7:00 a.m. Temp (F)

Current Observations:  Wind, 48 hour snow

Mammoth/Cottonwood SNOTEL (8,800’):

30.2”

0”

38

Poor Freeze

Seeley Creek SNOTEL (10,000’):

19.3”

0”

43.5

Winds moderate WNW

Candland Peak

38”

0”

40.5

10 MPH WSW

Miller Flat Trailhead: 

43”

2”

~

Spring

 

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

            Today we are calling the avalanche danger MODERATE rising to CONSIDERABLE as the day progresses and warms up. Large, unusual wet slab avalanches have been releasing in many areas of Utah with the warm temperatures this week. The cohesionless, faceted crystals at the base and mid-layers of the snowpack are failing under the weight of the upper pack and the weakening bonds between layers caused by water percolating through our increasingly wet snowpack. Overnight lows did not get down to freezing at ANY  of our weather stations across the Manti-Skyline so any overnight freeze that may have occurred will be marginal. It looks like more of the same for the next couple of days. In addition to the wet slides that have already been noted across the state, this is a major red flag when it comes to wet slides. Be careful out on the steeps this weekend as large wet slabs have been releasing out there. If you can stick your boot through to upper snow surface into the wet granular snow below, stay off the steeps! We’ll update this message Sunday morning. Thanks for checking in.