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: Mostly cloudy in the morning then becoming partly cloudy. Southwest winds around 15 mph in the morning becoming southwest around 15 mph late in the afternoon. Highs 27°F to 33°F.

Tonight: Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of snow. South winds around 15 mph. Lows 15°F to 21°F.

Saturday: Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of snow. South winds around 15 mph early in the morning becoming southwest around 15 mph late in the afternoon. Highs 27°F to 33°F.

Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow. Southwest winds around 15 mph. Lows 15°F to 21°F.

Sunday: Snow likely. Snow accumulation of 2 to 3 inches. Chance of snow 60 percent. Highs 25°F to 31°F.

Sunday Night: Colder. Snow likely. Light snow accumulations. Chance of snow 70 percent. Lows 5°F to 11°F.

Monday: Mostly cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow. Highs 17°F to 23°F.

Monday Night: Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of snow. Lows 2°F to 8°F.

Tuesday: Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of snow. Highs 13°F to 19°F.

Tuesday Night: Colder. Mostly cloudy in the evening then becoming partly cloudy. A 40 percent chance of snow. Lows -6°F to 0°F.

Wednesday: Partly cloudy in the morning then becoming mostly cloudy. A 40 percent chance of snow. Highs 17°F to 23°F.

Wednesday Night: Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of snow. Lows -1°F to 5°F.

Thursday: Mostly cloudy in the morning then becoming partly cloudy. A 30 percent chance of snow. Highs 21°F to 27°F.

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

Mountain Weather

Yesterday the mountains near Cooke City received 5 inches of snow and the mountains south of West Yellowstone received 3 inches while all other areas received a trace. This morning temperatures were in the low 20s Fahrenheit and winds were blowing 10 to 15 mph from the West and Southwest with gusts of 25 mph. Today temperatures will rise into the low 30s Fahrenheit. Wind speeds will remain the same but wind directions should shift more to the South and Southwest. Clouds will build late this afternoon and tonight a little more snow should fall. Mountains near Bozeman and Big Sky may get an inch of snow with more possible further south.

Snowpack and Avalanche Discussion:

Cooke City:

Once again, if there's a chance for snow, the mountains near Cooke City will get it. Five inches of new snow (0.3 inches of SWE) will hardly change the avalanche danger. This new snow should bond quickly to the old, wind-affected, snow surface on most slopes. A group skiing and snowmobiling recently found a few sheltered slopes with soft snow and weak facets on the surface. These slopes may produce sluffs today; otherwise, there will not be much of an avalanche problem until more snow falls and builds a slab. For today the Avalanche Danger is LOW.

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

Mountains south of West Yellowstone received 3 inches of snow while all other areas received a trace. Strong winds about a week ago created highly variable conditions similar to what Eric found yesterday on the west side of the Bridger Range (photo1, photo2). The snowpack is mostly stable and the only problem currently is a layer of facets buried 6 to 16 inches deep. In most areas this layer has gained strength and avalanches on this layer are unlikely.

A Future Problem: Many slopes sheltered from the wind have a layer of weak facets at and near the snow surface. In the southern Madison Range and near West Yellowstone, wind-sheltered slopes have both a layer of facets and a layer of surface hoar. With yesterday's snow and a little more coming tonight, these layers will be capped and preserved to become a problem when more snow falls. This problem will be tricky because many other slopes were hammered by last week's winds and do not have these layers.

For today human triggered avalanches are unlikely and the Avalanche Danger is LOW.

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.