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, March 25th, 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:

 Rapid snow loss has been noted across the state with all the sunny weather we’ve been having.  S. Utah picked up some snow yesterday but The Clouds and high humidity on Friday night never amounted to much on the Plateau. We will still be dealing with the Melt-Freeze snow as far as conditions are concerned. There was a good freeze last night so expect hard conditions this morning and wet conditions by afternoon as the daily warming cycle kicks in.  Get out early and finish early if you’re looking to make turns on skis or your snowboard. This may be the last corn snow day for a while, as conditions are going to change this week. 
 
 

Mountain Weather:

Today: Partly cloudy. Highs at 8000 feet in the mid 50s.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy. Lows at 8000 feet around 30.
Monday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Mostly cloudy. Highs at 8000 feet in the lower 50s.
Monday Night: Breezy. A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms in the evening...then a chance of rain showers... Thunderstorms and snow showers after midnight. Partly cloudy. Lows at 8000 feet in the upper 30s. South winds 15 to 25 mph. Chance of precipitation 30 percent.
Tuesday: Breezy. A chance of thunderstorms...rain and snow showers in the morning...then thunderstorms and snow showers in the afternoon. Highs at 8000 feet in the lower 40s. Southwest winds 15 to 25 mph. Chance of precipitation 80 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’):	21.8	0”	29.8	Melt-freeze
Seeley Creek SNOTEL (10,000’):	15.6	0”	32.5	Winds light westerly
Candland Peak	34”	0”	27.6	2 mph northerly
Miller Flat Trailhead:	32”	0”	~	Spring Conditions

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

Rotten, Punchy conditions still exist below the various frozen crusts you’ll find on every slope except the highest due northerly aspects. Corn skiing on the softening crust is great on the sunny aspects, but don’t expect to find much powder out there. Good freezes at night are cutting down on the wet slide danger and that’s about the entire hazard we are dealing with at the moment. We are calling the avalanche danger LOW increasing to MODERATE in the afternoon with the daily warm-up. This means human triggered avalanche will be possible after things get hot. IF you’re sinking in to the wet glop, it time to stay away from steep slopes. It looks like a brief return to winter this week. We’ll update this message net weekend.