Forecast for the Skyline Area Mountains

Brett Kobernik
Issued by Brett Kobernik on
Wednesday morning, April 2, 2025
The overall avalanche danger on the Manti Skyline is MODERATE today.
Watch for fresh drifts and slabs of snow along the higher ridges especially on steep east facing slopes.
There is still a minor chance of triggering a deep avalanche that breaks into old sugary faceted snow. The chances for this happening are quite low at this time.
Low
Moderate
Considerable
High
Extreme
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Weather and Snow
Current Conditions: You'll find 8 to 10 inches of snow fairly evenly blanketed along the entire Skyline. The snow quality is quite good as it started out dense and became lighter during the storm. You will feel the old hard snow underneath the new snow to a certain extent, especially on snow machines. Temperatures dipped into the teens overnight which will have kept the snow quality dry and powdery. It was slightly breezy from the west on Tuesday. The wind has really died off this morning.
Mountain Weather: We'll see mostly cloudy skies today with the chance for snow later this afternoon that could bring a trace to a couple of inches. Temperatures will max out in the 20s. Wind looks like it'll stay quite light through the day. Thursday and Friday look similar with chances for snow each day.
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Avalanche Problem #1
New Snow
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
The new snow seemed quite well behaved on Tuesday. Here was what I found:
  • No natural avalanche activity from during the storm.
  • The new snow was not prone to cracking when traveling across steeper slopes.
  • Shear tests did not produce clean shears within the new snow.
  • There was some minor wind drifting that happened during the storm.
As far as the new snow is concerned, I'd call it stable except in areas where the wind has formed drifts and slabs of new snow. These are the places where you might find a pocket that could crack out. Steep east facing slopes are the most likely place to trigger something. Overall, the threat is not all that serious.
Avalanche Problem #2
Persistent Weak Layer
Type
Location
Likelihood
Size
Description
The old weak layers buried deep in the snowpack are the wild card. I believe we may have finally turned the corner where these layers aren't posing a huge threat anymore. Last week's very warm temperatures melted and settled the snowpack quite a bit. It is frozen up hard under the new snow. This has made it so that it is fairly unlikely that a person can affect those deep weak layers at this time. That said, I'm still uneasy about them and you won't find me in really steep terrain like what I would normally be riding at this time of the season in most years.
General Announcements
This forecast is from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This forecast describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.