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, December 30th, 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 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, 15 degrees out @ 7:00 a.m.

Seeley Creek SNOTEL (10,000’): 21.5 on the ground, winds are 13 mph from the NW, 28 degrees @ 7:00 a.m.

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

Mountain Weather:

Today: Mostly sunny. South wind 3 mph. High 37.
Tonight: Mostly clear. Light wind. Low 19.
Sunday: Partly cloudy. Southwest wind 8 mph. High 35.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy. West wind 3 mph. Low 9.
New Years Day: Partly cloudy. Chance of snow. Snow accumulation 1 inch. Probability of measurable precipitation 40 percent. Northwest wind 3 mph. High 27.
Monday Night: Partly cloudy. Chance of snow. Snow accumulation 1 inch. Probability of measurable precipitation 30 percent. Low 9.

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. This will come 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)