Saturday: Patchy fog before 11:00 am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 31°F. Wind chill values as low as -5°F. South wind around 6 mph becoming calm.

Saturday Night: Patchy fog after 11:00 pm. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low around 18°F. South wind between 6 and 11 mph.

Sunday / Christmas Day: Patchy fog before 11:00 am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 35°F. Breezy, with a south southwest wind between 10 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.

Monday: Partly sunny, with a high near 29°F. South southwest wind between 5 and 13 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph

Tuesday: A 20 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 32°F.

Wednesday: A 40 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 36°F.

Thursday: A chance of rain and snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 38°F.

Friday: A slight chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 33°F.

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

Mountain Weather

A dry and mild weather pattern will persist over southwest Montana through the holiday weekend. Santa will likely have smooth sailing while making his rounds tonight into tomorrow. Currently – mountain temperatures are in the mid teens to low 20s Fahrenheit and winds are blowing predominately out of the west at 15-30 mph. Today, temperatures will rise into the mid to high 20s Fahrenheit under partly cloudy skies and winds continue to blow 15-30 mph out of the West-northwest.

Snowpack and Avalanche Discussion:

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

T'was the day before Christmas
and all through the hills
not a snowflake was falling
but the winds delivered chills

The new snow was blown
into puffy wind rolls
which can easily fail
if you pick the wrong knoll

When out in the backcountry
Dig a pit before you slide
Look for the weak layers
That could take you for a ride.

Yesterday, two skiers in Beehive Basin escaped with their hide, after skiing a steep slope and triggering a slide. The avalanche occurred on a west facing slope around 9,000 feet and failed on well developed facets near the ground. The Moonlight Basin Ski Patrol also triggered numerous slides during control work on Thursday. Both are prime indicators that the weak snow structure of the northern Madison Range is having difficulty supporting the most recent load.

These two examples illustrate what's possible throughout our advisory area. Although southwest Montana has not received any new snow since Wednesday, strong winds have been loading leeward slopes. Winds have been blowing predominately out of the west, making slopes on the east half of the compass most prone to slab development. However, the east wind event this past Wednesday/Thursday did deposit additional snow on west facing slopes.

Today, the primary avalanche concern will be slopes that have received wind deposited snow. Recently formed wind slabs will likely be resting over a weak foundation of buried facets, making them sensitive to the weight of skier or rider.

Today natural avalanches are possible and human triggered avalanches are likely on all wind loaded slopes where the Avalanche Danger is rated CONSIDERABLE. Slopes that have not received a wind load have a MODERATE Avalanche Danger.

The next advisory tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m. If you have any snowpack or avalanche observations, drop us a line at mtavalanche@gmail.com or call us at: 406-587-6984.

Beacon Parks

The Friends of the Avalanche Center installed a Beacon Training Park outside West Yellowstone last Friday. It's located south of town on the main snowmobile trail. Stop by and do a quick practice before heading off into the mountains!

EDUCATION, EVENTS, PHOTOS, SNOWPITS, and VIDEOS

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. Check out all our education programs, Click Here.

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