Rest Of Today...Cloudy. Scattered snow showers late in the morning...then chance of snow in the afternoon. Highs 27°F to 33°F. West winds around 15 mph in the afternoon. Chance of snow 50 percent.

Tonight...Mostly cloudy with slight chance of snow in the evening... Then partly cloudy with chance of snow after midnight. Lows 10°F to 16°F. Southwest winds around 15 mph. Chance of snow 30 percent.

Saturday...Breezy. Mostly cloudy. Chance of snow in the morning... Then snow likely in the afternoon. Snow accumulation around 2 inches. Highs 27°F to 33°F. Southwest winds 15 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 70 percent.

Saturday Night...Breezy. Cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow. Lows 13°F to 19°F. Southwest winds 15 to 20 mph.

Sunday...Snow likely. Snow accumulation of 2 to 3 inches. Highs 29°F to 35°F. Chance of snow 70 percent.

Sunday Night...Snow likely. Moderate snow accumulations. Lows 10°F to 16°F. Chance of snow 60 percent.

Monday...Snow likely. Light snow accumulations. Highs 29°F to 35°F. Chance of snow 60 percent.

Monday Night...Cloudy with a 30 percent chance of snow. Lows 5°F to 11°F.

Tuesday...Mostly cloudy in the morning then becoming partly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of snow. Highs 23°F to 29°F.

Tuesday Night...Partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow. Lows 1°F to 7°F.

Wednesday...Mostly cloudy with isolated snow showers. Highs 24°F to 30°F. Chance of snow 20 percent.

Wednesday Night...Mostly cloudy with isolated snow showers. Lows 8°F to 14°F. Chance of snow 20 percent.

Thursday...Cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow. Highs 27°F to 33°F.

 Hazardous Weather  Gibbon Falls Forecast  Mammoth Forecast  Midway Forecast  Norris Forecast  Old Faithful Forecast 

Mountain Weather

Since yesterday morning the mountains near Cooke City received 6 inches of snow while all other areas received 1 to 3 inches. Yesterday evening westerly winds increased to 20-30 mph but decreased this morning to 10-20 mph. Temperatures this morning were in the low teens Fahrenheit and should warm to the mid 20s Fahrenheit. Today will be mostly cloudy and only a trace of snow might fall by tomorrow morning. Snowfall should resume on Saturday.

Snowpack and Avalanche Discussion:

The Bridger, Madison and Gallatin Ranges, the Lionhead area near West Yellowstone:

The current weather pattern is perfect - a few inches of snow everyday with light winds and mostly cloudy skies. This type of weather:

• Prevents the formation of new persistent weak layers.

• Limits wind slab formation.

• Keeps the skiing and riding good without stressing the snowpack.

Avalanche issues in the new snow are minimal. New snow has mostly bonded well to the old snow surface. Some new snow fell as little pellets called graupel which can be a temporary weak layer but usually bonds within 24-48 hrs. Also, a few fresh wind slabs may exist after a few hours of increased westerly winds last night.

Avalanche issues in the old snow primarily involve hard wind slabs that formed last weekend and early this week. Fortunately these hard slabs have mostly bonded and triggering one will be difficult though not impossible. Likely areas to trigger one of these hard slabs are slopes that have been scoured by winds and have a thin and weak snowpack. The Big Sky Ski Patrol triggered a small pocket of old snow with explosives in one of these areas Most of these slopes remain scoured, but a few may have slabs from cross loading winds.

For today, with mostly light winds and no widespread stability concerns, the Avalanche Danger is rated LOW. Generally safe avalanche conditions exist, but watch for unstable snow on isolated terrain features because a LOW Danger ≠ NO Danger.

The mountains around Cooke City and the Washburn Range:

The mountains near Cooke City received 6 inches of new snow. Much of this snow fell as little pellets called graupel that can be a temporary weak layer. Deeper layers of snow are well bonded and human triggered avalanches should be small. One isolated exception – a skier triggered avalanche near Round Lake on Sunday. This avalanche occurred on facets near an ice crust about 2 feet deep. Fortunately this layering does not exist on most slopes.

For today the Avalanche Danger is rated MODERATE on wind loaded slopes. All other slopes have a LOW Avalanche 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.