Caution advised for snow falling off of building roofs. Park accordingly.

Dangerous avalanche conditions may already exist in many back country areas, please call the Recorded Avalanche Advisory 406-587-6981 for the most current conditions.

Today: Snow. Snow accumulation of 2 to 3 inches. Total snow accumulation 3 to 5 inches. West winds around 15 mph. Chance of snow near 100 percent. Highs 24°F to 30°F.

Tonight: Mostly cloudy in the evening then becoming partly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of snow. Southwest winds around 15 mph early in the evening. Lows 7°F to 13°F.

Saturday: Partly cloudy in the morning then clearing. Highs 26°F to 32°F.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear. Lows 2°F to 10°F.

Sunday: Partly cloudy. Highs 27°F to 33°F.

Sunday Night: Partly cloudy. Lows 8°F to 14°F.

Monday: Mostly cloudy in the morning then becoming partly cloudy. Highs 27°F to 33°F.

Monday Night: Partly cloudy. Lows 13°F to 19°F.

Tuesday: Partly cloudy. Highs 32°F to 38°F.

Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy. Lows 13°F to 19°F.

Wednesday: Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of snow. Highs 26°F to 32°F.

Wednesday Night: Mostly cloudy in the evening then becoming partly cloudy. Lows 10°F to 16°F.

Thursday: Partly cloudy. Highs 26°F to 32°F.

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Mountain Weather

Yesterday an additional 8 inches of dense snow fell in the Bridger Range; 4 to 6 inches fell near Hyalite, Big Sky and Cooke City; and 2 to 3 inches fell near West Yellowstone. This morning temperatures were in the high teens and low 20s Fahrenheit with winds blowing 10 to 15 mph from the west and gusting 20 to 30 mph. Today temperatures may drop a few degrees and winds will ease just a little shifting to the West-northwest. Snowfall will end around midday with 1 to 3 inches accumulating in most areas. By late afternoon a few rays of sunshine may break through the clouds making way for more sunshine this weekend.

Snowpack and Avalanche Discussion:

Cooke City:

During the last three days, 1.5 feet of snow fell near Cooke City although we received reports of 2+ feet of new snow in some areas. With strong winds blowing during the last 2 days and temperatures rising and falling during the storms, there are several different layers in the new snow. Avalanches will easily break on one of these layers. At lower elevations in places like "Town Hill", the snowpack was thin and weak prior to these storms. Avalanches could break deeper in the snowpack and be triggered remotely in these areas. For today with more snow falling, human triggered avalanches are likely and the Avalanche Danger is rated CONSIDERABLE.

Madison, and Southern Gallatin Ranges, and Lionhead Area near West Yellowstone:

During the last three days, 1.5 feet of snow fell near Big Sky and 1 foot fell near West Yellowstone. These areas also received plenty of wind and ski patrols have triggered avalanches breaking within the new snow. Another problem is several layers (video, photo) of weak facets (and some surface hoar - photo) buried 1.5-2 feet deep under the new snow. These layers have been most reactive in stability tests on S aspects where a skier experienced collapsing and cracking on Cedar Mountain yesterday. These layers also exist on North aspects and with so much new snow, I would be worried on these aspects as well today. New snow, wind, and buried weak layers mean dangerous avalanche conditions exist today and the Avalanche Danger is rated CONSIDERABLE.

Bridger and Northern Gallatin Ranges:

During the last three days, 3.5 feet of snow fell in the Bridger Range (2 to 3 inches of snow water equivalent) and 2 feet fell in the northern Gallatin Range (2 inches of SWE), thus a lot of weight was added to the snowpack. Temperatures have gone up and down since Tuesday creating different layers of new snow with varying densities. Additionally, strong West and Northwest winds blew on Wednesday and Thursday transporting snow onto the lee sides of ridges and gullies. On most slopes the main concern will be avalanches breaking within layers of the new snow (video).

A scarier and longer lasting problem exists on slopes that had a thin snowpack (2.5 deep or less) prior to this week's snowfall. The snowpack on these slopes weakened and faceted during dry, cold weather in January and is now struggling to support the heavy load of new snow. These slopes exist at lower elevations like Mount Ellis where Eric found very unstable conditions yesterday and experienced widespread collapsing and cracking. These slopes also exist at higher elevations like some Southwest aspects (snowpack photo) on the West side of the Bridger Range.

For today, with a lot of new, heavy snow and more falling this morning, I'm staying conservative and rating the Avalanche Danger HIGH on wind loaded slopes. Human triggered avalanches are just as likely on all other slopes which have a CONSIDERABLE Avalanche Danger.

* * Avalanche Accident * *

A skier was caught and fully buried in an avalanche in the Centennial Mountains along the Montana / Idaho border. His partners were all in safe locations watching him descend, all had rescue gear, and uncovered him in about 3 minutes – good job! He was injured as the avalanche carried him through trees fortunately he did not sustain serious injuries. Every accident is a learning opportunity and we'll post more info as we get it.

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.

EDUCATION, PHOTOS, SNOWPITS, and VIDEOS

1. For links to Articles, Education and (photos), (snowpits), or (videos) listed in the above report, please visit this Link.

2. They have recently uploaded more photos and snowpits to their web site, more than what are linked in the advisory above.

3. They have creating a series of "How To…" stability test videos. So far they have clips on performing a CT and ECT. They are located under Stability Tests on their Resources page.

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.