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: Partly cloudy. Southwest winds around 15 mph. Highs 29°F to 35°F.

Tonight: Breezy. Mostly cloudy. A 30 percent chance of snow after midnight. Southwest winds 15 to 20 mph. Gusts up to 35 mph. Lows 13°F to 19°F.

Thursday: Breezy. Mostly cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow. Southwest winds 15 to 20 mph with gusts to around 35 mph. Highs 19°F to 25°F.

Thursday Night: Breezy. Partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow. Southwest winds 15 to 20 mph. Lows 8°F to 14°F.

Friday: Partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow. Highs 24°F to 30°F.

Friday Night: Partly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of snow. Lows 11°F to 17°F.

Saturday: Partly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of snow. Highs 25°F to 31°F.

Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of snow. Lows 12°F to 18°F.

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

Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of snow. Lows 8°F to 14°F.

Monday: Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of snow. Highs 19°F to 25°F.

Monday Night: Colder. Partly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of snow. Lows 0°F to 6°F.

Tuesday: Partly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of snow. Highs 13°F to 19°F.

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Mountain Weather

Under partly cloudy skies there's no new snow to report. Mountain temperatures are in the low thirties Fahrenheit around Bozeman and Big Sky and mid-twenties Fahrenheit near Cooke City and West Yellowstone. Currently, west to southwest winds are blowing 10 to 25 mph at the ridgetops. Clouds will increase later today with some flurries expected after midnight as winds increase to 30 mph and mountain temperatures cool into the twenties Fahrenheit. By morning we'll see a trace to one inch of snow, if we're lucky.

Snowpack and Avalanche Discussion:

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

Today is day eight without snowfall. In the last 48 hours winds have calmed and there is very little snow left for transport at the ridgelines. The snowpack stability continues to improve and avalanche activity is unlikely. Throughout our advisory area there are two common things happening:

1. The weakest layer in the snowpack, a layer of facets 6 to 16 inches under the surface, is gaining strength as the crystals round and bond together.

2. The surface snow is changing into and/or growing our next weak layer.

Yesterday, an MSU graduate student went to Lionhead and performed 28 stability tests on a slope with only two showing propagation. This is a very good sign of stability. He also noted a thick layer of feathery surface hoar crystals. On Sunday, a skier in Bacon Rind also found buried facets gaining strength and saw large flakes of surface hoar (photo). The same day in Taylor Fork, I too discovered surface faceting (photo) and stable snow.

Over the weekend a few small and shallow avalanches were triggered on steep, wind drifted slopes outside Cooke City and in Lionhead (photo). Wind effected slopes, or places with an exceptionally thin snowpack, may hold isolated, small pockets of unstable snow. Although triggering an avalanche is unlikely, it is not impossible. Given the overall stability and generally safe conditions, the Avalanche Danger today is rated LOW.

In the last few years our snow has been more unstable than not and the danger rating Low rarely got used. As a forecaster, writing Low for our entire area feels weird and unfamiliar, but our data and field trips have led us here. We are not throwing caution to the wind, but to be honest, on our days off we are skiing lines, climbing routes and traveling in the backcountry like it's a Low 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.

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.