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. Also, see the Avalanche Advisory posted below.

Today: Breezy. Patchy fog in the morning. Partly cloudy. Southwest winds 15 to 20 mph. Highs 27°F to 33°F.

Tonight: Breezy. Partly cloudy in the evening then becoming mostly cloudy. A 40 percent chance of snow. Southwest winds 15 to 20 mph. Lows 12°F to 18°F.

Sunday: Snow likely. Snow accumulation around 2 inches. West winds around 15 mph. Chance of snow 70 percent. Highs 20°F to 26°F.

Sunday Night: Colder. Mostly cloudy with scattered snow showers. Chance of snow 40 percent. Lows 0°F to 6°F.

Monday / Presidents' Day: Mostly cloudy in the morning then becoming partly cloudy. A 30 percent chance of snow showers. Highs 19°F to 25°F.

Monday Night / Presidents' Day Night: Partly cloudy. Lows 1°F to 7°F.

Tuesday: Partly cloudy in the morning then becoming mostly cloudy. Highs 26°F to 32°F.

Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of snow. Lows 9°F to 15°F.

Wednesday: Cloudy with a 30 percent chance of snow. Highs 24°F to 30°F.

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

Thursday: Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow. Highs 22°F to 28°F.

Thursday Night: Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow. Lows 7°F to 13°F.

Friday: Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow. Highs 23°F to 29°F.

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Mountain Weather

No snow fell since yesterday. This morning temperatures were mostly in the low 20s Fahrenheit. Winds were blowing 15 mph from the West with gusts of 25 mph. A short lived ridge of high pressure will bring another day of mostly sunny skies and warm temperatures. Temperatures will rise into the 30s Fahrenheit with no change in the winds. Clouds will return tonight. Snow will start falling early tomorrow morning and continue through the day.

Snowpack and Avalanche Discussion:

Cooke City:

The mountains around Cooke City simply have a lot of new snow which is the main avalanche problem. Fortunately this area mostly lacks persistent weak layers in the snowpack. The exception is areas with a thinner snowpack mostly at lower elevations or isolated slopes at higher elevations (video). Also watch for recently formed wind slabs or drifts. They will be less sensitive than they were yesterday but can still produce an avalanche. For today the Avalanche Danger is rated MODERATE.

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

The situation is more complex in the Bridger Range and the mountains near Big Sky and West Yellowstone. In general facets can be found roughly 1.5 to 2 feet deep. Yesterday near West Yellowstone, Eric and his partner skied on mostly South facing terrain. They found unstable conditions (collapsing and cracking) below 8500 feet while at higher elevations the snowpack was generally deeper, stronger, and stable. In the northern Bridger Range yesterday, I found areas of concern to be dependent on where snowpack was thin in January (photo) based on wind patterns and terrain like steep rocky areas that takes longer to build a deep snowpack. Also, downhill winds were loading specific terrain features but not loading many others.

These faceted layers formed during cold weather in January in places that had a thin snowpack due to low elevation or wind scour. Higher elevation, but wind sheltered slopes may have also these facets. Many other high elevation areas did not form these faceted layers due to a deeper snowpack and/or a wind hardened snow surface. Finding stable slopes requires a keen eye and a few snowpits. Today, rating the avalanche danger is tough because it will be higher on some slopes and lower on others. Overall however, the Avalanche Danger today is MODERATE.

Northern Gallatin Range:

Since last Saturday, the northern Gallatin Range received more snow than most other areas. It also has widespread weak layers of facets buried 2 to 3 feet deep either near the ground or in the middle of the snowpack. I wouldn't trust steep slopes in this area until at least a week passes without new snow or major wind events, even then I would be hesitant to venture into avalanche terrain without very careful snowpack evaluations. For today the Avalanche Danger is CONSIDERABLE.

The next advisory tomorrow morning at 7:30 AM. 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.