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: Breezy...snow. Areas of blowing snow in the afternoon. Snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches. South winds around 15 mph shifting to the west in the late morning and afternoon. Chance of snow 90 percent. Highs 14°F to 20°F.

Tonight: Cloudy. Scattered snow showers in the evening...then snow likely after midnight. Snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches. Northwest winds around 15 mph shifting to the south in the late evening and overnight. Chance of snow 60 percent. Lows 3°F to 9°F.

Wednesday: Breezy...snow. Areas of blowing snow in the afternoon. Snow accumulation of 2 to 3 inches. West winds 15 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 80 percent. Highs 20°F to 26°F.

Wednesday Night: Breezy...snow. Areas of blowing snow. Snow accumulation of 3 to 4 inches. Southwest winds 15 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 80 percent. Lows 12°F to 18°F.

Thursday: Cloudy. Areas of blowing snow in the morning. Snow likely in the morning...then chance of snow in the afternoon. Snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches. Total snow accumulation 9 to 15 inches. West winds around 15 mph. Chance of snow 60 percent. Highs 22°F to 28°F.

Thursday Night: Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of snow. Lows 12°F to 18°F.

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

Friday Night: Partly cloudy. Lows 7°F to 13°F.

Saturday: Mostly sunny. Highs 26°F to 32°F.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear. Lows 9°F to 15°F.

Sunday: Partly cloudy. Highs 29°F to 35°F.

Sunday Night: Partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow. Lows 12°F to 18°F.

Monday: Partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow. Highs 27°F to 33°F.

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Mountain Weather

Cough, cough. Call in sick today and head up to Bridger Bowl, and don't forget your snorkel. The range is under a strong, moist, northwest flow and the Bridger Bowl Cloud is in full effect. At 6:00 AM it has snowed 18 inches in five hours! It's anyone's guess how long it will last, but the models show good energy and moisture into this afternoon. Click here for the latest snowfall amounts. The rest of our forecast area has 1 to 3 inches of new snow. Winds are averaging 15 to 20 mph out of the West with gusts of 25 mph. Mountain temperatures dropped last night into the single digits Fahrenheit. This week looks to be snowy, a welcome relief to our powder drought. By tomorrow morning I expect 4 to 6 inches in most areas with the Bridger Range getting another foot or two.

Snowpack and Avalanche Discussion:

The Bridger Range:

With a snow storm raging in the Bridger Range today, the avalanche danger is rising. Westerly winds will quickly load slopes further spiking the danger. Today is a day to be cautious in your backcountry travel. Snowfall rates hitting over four inches an hour almost guarantee avalanches: sluffs on steeper terrain, soft slabs elsewhere. For today, the Avalanche Danger is rated HIGH on wind-loaded terrain and on slopes steeper than 35 degrees. All other terrain has a CONSIDERABLE Avalanche Danger.

Cooke City, Northern Gallatin, Northern Madison Ranges:

With 2 to 3 inches falling last night and 5 to 8 inches the day before, the northern Gallatin and Madison Ranges are slowly getting a load of snow. The mountains around Cooke City received over a foot this past weekend too. The winds were light yesterday and wind drifts were small, but even so, a skier around Cooke City was able to get cracks shoot out 15 feet on thin, soft wind slabs. In general, the snow is falling onto a relatively strong snowpack, however there are some areas where the new snow is interfacing with sugary facets and will not bond well. For today, the Avalanche Danger is rated MODERATE on all avalanche terrain.

Southern Gallatin, and Southern Madison Ranges, and Lionhead Area near West Yellowstone:

The southern Madison, southern Gallatin Ranges and Lionhead area have a weak layer buried 6 to 8 inches under the surface. This layer is comprised of small, sugary, faceted grains and/or feathery crystals of surface hoar. By far, this is the weakest layer in the snowpack and it will become increasingly unstable as more snow falls in the next few days. Eric skied into the mountains around Hebgen Lake yesterday and got this layer to fracture in his tests (Eric's video, photo). I skied into Bacon Rind and could easily find the buried surface hoar, identified as a one inch thick stripe in my snowpit wall (photo). This layer will not support much new snow. Contrary to Eric's tests, I could not get this layer to fracture, but it really didn't matter since anytime we bury a surface hoar layer I know avalanches will likely follow at some point (Doug's video).

A skier or snowmobiler would likely trigger an avalanche today on a wind-loaded slope, thus I'm rating the Avalanche Danger CONSIDERABLE. All other slopes have a MODERATE Avalanche Danger, but another 4 to 6 inches today would quickly bump it up to CONSIDERABLE Avalanche Danger.

Hot Tip: With this type of weak layer, cracks shooting out from your ski tips and/or audible collapses (whumphs) are clear red flags the snowpack is dangerously ripe to avalanche. Stick to lower angled slopes with these signs of instability.

* * Two separate avalanche fatalities in Wyoming * *

On Sunday a skier was killed in an avalanche south of Jackson while another skier died in a slide in the northern region of Teton National Park. An article in the Jackson Hole News has details: http://jhnewsandguide.com/article.php?art_id=9491

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.