Manti-La Sal Avalanche Center

US Forest Service Manti-La Sal National Forest

Introduction:

Good morning! This is Max Forgensi 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 Fairview and Huntington Canyons. This advisory is brought to you through a partnership of the US Forest Service and Utah State Parks. Today is Sunday, February 8^th, 2004 at 7:30 a.m.

General Conditions:

Yesterday’s storm left a lot more snow than expected and the winds have been moderate out of the Southwest and now currently from the Northwest. So much snow has fallen in fact that the avalanche danger has increased considerably, so I highly recommend that you read on. It is currently 11 degrees at the Mammoth/Cottonwood SNOTEL site. It is reading a snow depth of 57”, which means over 13” of snow has fallen there overnight. You can expect more snow locally in some areas and that the roads will be snowpacked and wind drifted. 4WD is recommended.

Mountain Weather:

The center of the closed low that produced all this snow is now situated over the SW corner of Wyoming. Any lingering snow showers produced from this storm should end by mid morning.

Today: Breezy. Mostly cloudy with a 50% chance of some more accumulation that will end in the A.M. Highs at 8,000’ will be near 20 degrees. Winds will be out of the NW at 15-25 mph.

Tonight: Partly cloudy with a 20% chance of additional snow. Lows at 8,000’ will be around 0-5 above.

Monday: Mostly cloudy with a 20% chance of additional snow. Highs at 8,000’ will be near 20.

Avalanche Conditions:

Wind, wind, wind! With the new snow that fell and our winds blowing out of the SW-NW, today is a perfect day to stay out of avalanche terrain. Newly formed cornices and wind deposits have been created very rapidly and continue to grow. This means that they are going to be sensitive and easy to trigger. It is a good day to stay at home and watch some television, unless you are going to be really conservative or you are very knowledgeable of avalanches.

The avalanche danger is going to be CONSIDERABLE in most areas today, especially on steep, wind loaded aspects NE-SE. This includes almost all terrain in canyons such as Rolfson, Seeley and Potters, and every other canyon like these all the way down and past Joe’s Valley Reservoir. Remember your number one goal when you travel out into the mountains and recreate…to come back to your loved ones safe and sound. Please be careful.

Public Announcements:

We have some classes coming your way in February! Take a look at our Education link on the main page. If you want to schedule a free avalanche awareness class for your snowmobile club, please call us at 435.636.3363 or leave an email at mforgensi@fs.fed.us. We are still looking for observers for the Wasatch Plateau/Skyline region. The more information we can gather, the better this advisory can be.