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...snow. Snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches. West winds 15 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 80 percent. Highs 20°F to 26°F.

Tonight: Cloudy. Numerous snow showers in the evening...then scattered snow showers after midnight. Snow accumulation up to 1 inch. Total snow accumulation 1 to 4 inches. West winds around 15 mph in the evening. Chance of snow 60 percent. Lows 3°F to 9°F.

Monday / Presidents' Day: Mostly cloudy with isolated snow showers in the morning...then partly cloudy in the afternoon. Chance of snow 20 percent. Highs 20°F to 26°F.

Monday Night / Presidents' Day Night: Partly cloudy. Lows 3°F to 9°F.

Tuesday: Partly cloudy in the morning...then mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow in the afternoon. South winds around 15 mph in the afternoon. Highs 26°F to 32°F.

Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy in the evening then becoming partly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of snow. Lows 11°F to 17°F.

Wednesday: Cloudy with a 40 percent chance of snow. Highs 24°F to 30°F.

Wednesday Night: Cloudy with a 40 percent chance of snow. Lows 5°F to 11°F.

Thursday: Cloudy with a 30 percent chance of snow. Highs 22°F to 28°F.

Thursday Night: 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 24°F to 30°F.

Friday Night: Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of snow. Lows 8°F to 14°F.

Saturday: Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of snow. Highs 24°F to 30°F.

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Mountain Weather

Overnight the mountains around Big Sky picked up 5 to 7 inches of new snow and it's still snowing. The Bridger Range, southern Madison Range and mountains around Cooke City picked up 3 to 5 inches, while the mountains around West Yellowstone picked up around 1 inch. Snow will continue through the day with additional 4 to 6 inches likely in the mountains near Bozeman and Big Sky. The mountains around West Yellowstone and Cooke City will see additional accumulations of 3 to 5 inches.

Currently, temperatures are in the high teens to low twenties Fahrenheit and winds are blowing 20 to 30 out the West-northwest. Temps will not warm much as a cold front moves over the area. Highs today will stay in the twenties Fahrenheit and winds will remain out of the West-northwest blowing 15 to 25 mph. Colder air will remain over the area the next few days.

Snowpack and Avalanche Discussion:

Cooke City:

Over the past 24 hours, strong winds from the WNW have produced wind slabs in upper elevation terrain. Slopes below ridgelines or on the lee side of cross loaded terrain features will be likely areas to find wind deposited snow. While I don't expect wind slabs to break far and wide, they will easily pack enough punch to carry or even burry a skier or rider.

Fortunately this area mostly lacks buried persistent weak layers in the snowpack. The exception is areas with a thinner snowpack mostly at mid to low elevations. On Friday a skier experienced cracking and collapsing in mid-elevation terrain (photo).

Today, human triggered avalanches are likely on wind loaded slopes which have a CONSIDERABLE Avalanche Danger. Non-wind loaded slopes have a MODERATE Avalanche Danger.

Lionhead Area near West Yellowstone:

A layer of facets buried 1.5 to 2 feet deep is most pronounced in areas where the snowpack is thinner, mainly below 8,500 feet. This layer is gaining strength, but should not be fully trusted.

Today, buried facets make human triggered avalanche possible and the Avalanche Danger is rated MODERATE.

Bridger, Southern Gallatin and Madison Ranges:

Over six inches of snow has fallen in the past five hours in the mountains around Big Sky; 3 to 4 inches has fallen in the Bridger Range and southern Madison Range. This latest shot of snow has been accompanied by West-northwest winds blowing 20 to 30 mph. Today, wind slabs will be the primary avalanche concern. Upper elevation slopes facing south and east will be most prone to slab development. Wind slabs will grow in size and distribution as the storm continues through the day.

Non-wind loaded slopes will also feel the stress of this additional load. On Friday, snowmobilers near Sage Peak in the southern Madison Range remotely triggered an avalanche that broke 200 feet wide and ran 400 vertical. Also, the Big Sky ski patrol got a full depth release in the A-Z chutes while doing control work yesterday. South and west facing slopes have the thinnest and weakest snowpack; however, buried facets can be found on north and east aspects as well.

Today, the Avalanche Danger is rated CONSIDERABLE on wind loaded slopes. Non-wind loaded slopes have a MODERATE Avalanche Danger.

Northern Gallatin Range:

The northern Gallatin Range received the least amount of snow early season. This allowed the snowpack to become weak and faceted during a cold and dry January. Since the 1st of February, heavy amounts of snow have buried these faceted layers 2 to 3 feet deep. In some areas buried facets exist near the ground while in others they can be found mid-pack. Either way, they continue to produce a snowpack that's on edge. As more snow and wind arrive today, the snowpack will remain stressed. For this reason human triggered avalanches are likely and the Avalanche Danger is rated 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.