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: Cloudy with snow likely. Snow accumulation up to 1 inch. Southwest winds around 15 mph. Chance of snow 60 percent. Highs 29°F to 35°F.

Tonight: Cloudy with snow likely. Snow accumulation up to 1 inch. Southwest winds around 15 mph. Chance of snow 60 percent. Lows 17°F to 23°F.

Sunday: Snow. Snow accumulation of 2 to 3 inches. Southwest winds around 15 mph in the morning. Chance of snow 80 percent. Highs 24°F to 30°F.

Sunday Night: Colder. Snow likely. Snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches. Total snow accumulation 3 to 8 inches. Chance of snow 70 percent. Lows 4°F to 10°F.

Monday: Breezy. Cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow. Southwest winds 15 to 20 mph. Highs 13°F to 19°F.

Monday Night: Mostly cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow. Lows 0°F to 6°F. Wind chill readings -10°F to -20°F.

Tuesday: Cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow. Highs 13°F to 19°F. Lowest wind chill readings -10°F to -20°F in the morning.

Tuesday Night: Cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow. Lows -2°F to 4°F.

Wednesday: Cloudy with a 40 percent chance of snow. Highs 19°F to 25°F.

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

Thursday: Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of snow. Highs 23°F to 29°F.

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

Friday: Mostly cloudy. Scattered snow showers in the morning... Then chance of snow in the afternoon. Chance of snow 30 percent. Highs 24°F to 30°F.

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

Mountain Weather

Overnight 1 to 2 inches of snow fell in the mountains around Bozeman, Big Sky and Cooke City. The southern Madison Range and mountains around West Yellowstone picked up 2 to 3 inches. Morning temperatures are in the mid to upper 20s Fahrenheit and winds are blowing 15 to 25 from the West-southwest with gusts reaching upward of 30 mph. Today, light snow is likely in the mountains with an additional 1 to 2 inches possible by this afternoon. Mountain temperatures will warm into the upper 20s to low 30s Fahrenheit and winds will continue to blow 15 to 25 from the West-southwest. A stronger storm system will impact our area starting tonight and should deliver 3 to 5 inches by tomorrow afternoon.

Snowpack and Avalanche Discussion:

Cooke City:

The mountains around Cooke City act as a catcher's mitt for precipitation. Over the past 48 hours, Fisher Creek Snotel site has recorded five inches of snow - but local observations are indicating nearly twice that amount at higher elevations. Moderate winds out of the WSW will easily transport the low density new snow onto leeward slopes, forming fresh wind slabs. These newly formed slabs are today's primary avalanche concern. Upper elevation slopes leeward to the predominant WSW winds will be the most likely to hold wind deposited snow. Human triggered avalanches will be possible for skiers or riders who venture into wind loaded terrain. Fortunately, mitigating this type of avalanche hazard is fairly simple. The absence of buried weak layers will make human triggered avalanches unlikely on non-wind loaded slopes.

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

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

The few inches of snow that fell in the mountains around Bozeman, Big Sky and West Yellowstone will help raise spirits but will do little to raise the avalanche hazard. This latest dusting of snow will also do little to erase the variable conditions that have formed over the past few weeks. On Thursday, I visited the west side of the Bridger Range and experienced changing conditions nearly every turn (photo1, photo2). This type of adventure riding now seems to be the norm throughout much of our advisory area.

Similar to most aspects of life – there is a positive and negative to everything. Of course the negative side to a long dry spell is the snow quality stinks, but on the positive side – at least the snowpack is stable. There is the possibility a skier or rider could trigger a small isolated wind slab in steep, upper elevation terrain, which is today's main avalanche concern.

A Future Problem: Many sheltered slopes now have a layer of weak facets buried under 1 to 3 inches of new snow. In the southern Madison Range and mountains near West Yellowstone, wind-sheltered slopes have both a layer of facets and a layer of surface hoar which is now preserved. These layers will likely become a problem when we get more snow.

Today, small avalanches are possible in isolated areas or extreme terrain and the Avalanche Danger is rated 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.