Rest Of Today...Snow likely late in the morning...then numerous snow showers in the afternoon. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches. Total snow accumulation 2 to 4 inches. Highs 29°F to 35°F. West winds around 15 mph. Chance of snow 70 percent.

Tonight...Cloudy with scattered snow showers. Lows 13°F to 19°F. Chance of snow 50 percent.

Friday...Cloudy with scattered snow showers. Highs 20°F to 26°F. Chance of snow 50 percent.

Friday Night...Mostly cloudy. Slight chance of snow in the evening...then chance of snow after midnight. Lows 7°F to 13°F. Chance of snow 40 percent.

Saturday...Cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow. Highs 24°F to 30°F.

Saturday Night...Cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow. Lows 14°F to 20°F.

Sunday...Snow likely. Light snow accumulations. Highs 28°F to 34°F. Chance of snow 70 percent.

Sunday Night...Snow likely. Light snow accumulations. Lows 9°F to 15°F. Chance of snow 60 percent.

Monday...Cloudy with a 40 percent chance of snow. Highs 27°F to 33°F.

Monday Night...Cloudy with a 30 percent chance of snow. Lows 3°F to 9°F.

Tuesday...Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow. Highs 18°F to 24°F.

Tuesday Night...Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow. Lows -1°F to 5°F.

Wednesday...Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow. Highs 22 to 28.

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Mountain Weather

The mountains near Big Sky, West Yellowstone, and Cooke City received 1 to 2 inches of snow since yesterday. This morning temperatures were near 20°F and winds were blowing 15-20 mph from the WestSouthWest. More snow should fall today. High temperatures will be near 30°F and winds will continue unchanged. By tomorrow morning most areas will receive 3 to 5 inches.

Snowpack and Avalanche Discussion:

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

The last significant snowfall was 10 days ago. Since then, snow has trickled into the advisory area with brief periods of clear weather but continued strong West and Southwest winds. This weather means 3 things:

1. Without extended periods of clear weather, no prominent weak layers have formed. Some facets can be found near the snow surface, mostly on South aspects, but these are rare and/or not developed enough to be a concern.

2. Light and sporadic snowfall has not stressed the snowpack.

3. Most slopes were either scoured or have stiff wind slabs on them, and the surface snow will develop a good bond with snow falling today.

Hard wind slabs are the main concern. Recent warm temperatures and a lack of stress from snowfall helped these wind slabs bond. Most will not produce human triggered avalanches but some could. The few slopes untouched by wind will have soft snow and a strong snowpack like I found on Mount Ellis yesterday in the North Gallatin Range. A secondary concern - monster cornices exist on many ridgelines. They can break where and when you least expect. Watch for them when walking on ridges or parked in the fall line below them because falling cornices make great triggers for avalanches.

The snowpack is generally strong and deep and lacks reactive weak layers. One exception - very isolated slopes have facets near an ice crust about 2 feet deep. This layering produced a human triggered avalanche near Cooke City on Sunday. In Hyalite Canyon, a similar layering was found 2 weeks ago but has become unreactive in stability tests and not produced avalanches recently.

For today, the Avalanche Danger is rated MODERATE on wind-loaded slopes that are steeper than 35 degrees. All other slopes have a LOW Avalanche Danger. A LOW danger ≠ NO Danger.

PHOTOS, SNOWPITS, VIDEO and SURVEY RESULTS

1. We've recently uploaded more photos and snowpits to our web site, more than what are linked in the advisory.

2. We're creating a series of "How To…" stability test videos. So far we've got clips on performing a CT and ECT. There are located under Stability Tests on the Resources page.

3. The results from our survey are posted online. Thanks to all who participated. You can check out the results at http://bit.ly/fpLuSi.

In response to our survey we added a new page to the website with images of our snowpit profiles. This page is under the Resources/Other Info tab at http://fsavalanche.org/Encyclopedia/snowpit.htm

Information provided by Doug Chabot, Mark Staples, and Eric Knoff from the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center. For Photos and Videos, please visit the Avalanche Centers Website!

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.

Upcoming Events

SATURDAY - Pinhead Classic

The 30th Annual Pinhead Classic on is Saturday, March 5th. "Gangsters and Flappers" is this year's costume theme, so come dressed up to race, socialize and wind great prizes. Registration is $30 but get you all sorts of cool stuff. All proceeds benefit the Friends of the Avalanche Center. Check out the website http://pinheadclassic.com for details.