Today...Breezy. Mostly cloudy in the morning then becoming partly cloudy. Areas of blowing snow. Highs 28°F to 34°F. Southwest winds 15 to 25 mph.

Tonight...Windy. Partly cloudy in the evening...then mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow after midnight. Areas of blowing snow through the night. Lows 16°F to 22°F. Southwest winds 20 to 30 mph.

Sunday...Windy. Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow. Areas of blowing snow. Highs 29°F to 35°F. West winds 20 to 30 mph shifting to the southwest 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon.

Sunday Night...Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow in the evening...then partly cloudy after midnight. Areas of blowing snow after midnight. Lows 14°F to 20°F. Southwest winds around 15 mph.

Monday...Partly cloudy. Highs 33°F to 39°F. Southwest winds around 15 mph.

Monday Night...Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow. Lows 20°F to 26°F.

Tuesday...Partly cloudy. Chance of snow in the morning...then chance of snow and rain in the afternoon. Highs 32°F to 38°F. Chance of precipitation 30 percent.

Tuesday Night...Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of snow. Lows 19°F to 25°F.

Wednesday...Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of snow. Highs 31°F to 37°F.

Wednesday Night...Mostly cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow. Lows 17°F to 23°F.

Thursday...Cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow. Highs 27°F to 33°F.

Thursday Night...Colder. Mostly cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow. Lows 8°F to 14°F.

Friday...Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of snow. Highs 21°F to 27°F.

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Mountain Weather

Yesterday light snowfall near Cooke City produced about 1 inch of new snow while all other areas were dry. Temperatures this morning were in the low 20s Fahrenheit near Bozeman and Big Sky where winds were ripping at 25-60 mph from the West. Further south temperatures were in the low teens Fahrenheit and winds were blowing 10-25 mph. Partly sunny skies will allow high temperatures to climb into the low 30s Fahrenheit, but the main event will be winds which show no signs of slowing today.

Snowpack and Avalanche Discussion:

The Bridger and northern Gallatin Ranges:

The Bridger and northern Gallatin Ranges received the most snow last weekend, and this week they have received the strongest winds blowing steady at 30-40 mph with gusts over 60 mph. Additionally there is a widespread weak layer of facets under the new snow. The only good news is that warm temperatures will have a gradual stabilizing effect. The most sensitive slopes today will be ones at higher elevations (ie-colder) where wind-blown snow rests on top of the faceted layer.

For this reason the Avalanche Danger is rated CONSIDERABLE on slopes that are wind loaded and steeper than 35 degrees. All other slopes have a MODERATE Avalanche Danger.

The Madison and southern Gallatin Ranges, the Lionhead area near West Yellowstone, the mountains around Cooke City and the Washburn Range:

The rest of the advisory area has a similar layer of facets under new snow from last weekend.

• Near West Yellowstone and Lionhead, this layer is widespread but not buried very deeply and not stressed very much unless it has a wind slab on top.
• Near Cooke City and Big Sky, this layer is not very widespread nor is it very sensitive, but these areas received more snow than the mountains near West Yellowstone thus stressing this layer a bit more. This weak layer is most prevalent on slopes with a southerly exposure and a slight crust about 1-2 feet deep.

Winds generally haven't been blowing as strong as they have near Bozeman, but they have been plenty strong to transport available snow to the lee sides of ridges and gullies forming wind slabs which can be triggered by a skier or rider. A wind slab (about 8 inches deep and 60 feet wide) was triggered by a skier in the backcountry on Lone Mountain recently. Wind slabs are always a concern. They are generally easy to identify and best to avoid especially in high consequence terrain. During recent days they have likely grown more cohesive and stiffer but slightly harder to trigger. This means recently formed wind slabs may surprise you because some will not budge while others will let you ride onto them and break when you least expect it.

Today heightened avalanche conditions exist on terrain features having both wind-blown snow on top of a thin layer of weak facets and the Avalanche Danger is rated MODERATE.

Information provided by Doug Chabot, Mark Staples, and Eric Knoff from the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center.

If you have any snowpack or avalanche observations, drop them a line at mtavalanche@gmail.com or call: 406-587-6984.

For detailed Avalanche Terms utilized here, please see the Avalanche Glossary.

West Yellowstone: Beacon Park Operational

Skiing or riding near West Yellowstone? Test your beacon skills at a beacon park near the old airport where you can search for pre-placed beacons switched on/off by a control panel. Look for it by orange snow fence and signage just south of the snow cross track.

9th ANNUAL KING AND QUEEN OF THE RIDGE

The 9th Annual King and Queen of the Ridge will be held at Bridger Bowl on Saturday, February 12. ALL proceeds go to the Friends of the Avalanche Center who use the money to promote avalanche education in southwest Montana. Last winter we taught 64 classes reaching over 4,900 people. You can help raise money to continue this education in 2 ways:

1). Get pledges and hike the ridge. You don't have to do 20 laps – you can get flat pledges and hike just once! Or you can test your mettle and try and break John Yarington's record of 29 laps in 5 hours.

2). Sponsor someone. If you don't have someone to sponsor, consider sponsoring the GNFAC since we'll be hiking for dollars. Click Here for more information and registration forms.