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.

All Temperatures (Highs and Lows) are in degrees Fahrenheit (°F). All Sub Zero Temperatures are Highlighted.

Today: Mostly cloudy with isolated snow showers in the morning... Then partly cloudy with isolated rain showers and snow showers late in the morning. Partly cloudy late in the afternoon. Highs 36 to 42. Southwest winds around 15 mph. Chance of precipitation 20 percent.

Tonight: Partly cloudy. Lows 24 to 30. Southwest winds around 15 mph.

Thursday: Partly cloudy. Highs 40 to 46. Southwest winds around 15 mph early in the morning becoming southwest around 15 mph late in the afternoon.

Thursday Night: Partly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of snow after midnight. Lows 25 to 31. Southwest winds around 15 mph.

Friday: Mostly cloudy. Chance of snow in the morning...then chance of rain and snow in the afternoon. Highs 38 to 44. Chance of precipitation 30 percent.

Friday Night: Mostly cloudy. Chance of snow and slight chance of rain in the evening...then chance of snow after midnight. Lows 20 to 26. Chance of precipitation 30 percent.

Saturday: Cloudy. Chance of snow showers in the morning...then chance of snow showers and rain showers in the afternoon. Highs 33 to 39. Chance of precipitation 50 percent.

Saturday Night: Cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow showers. Lows 18 to 24.

Sunday: Cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow showers. Highs 26 to 32.

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

Monday: Mostly cloudy. Chance of snow showers in the morning... Then slight chance of snow showers in the afternoon. Highs 26 to 32. Chance of snow 30 percent.

Monday Night: Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow showers. Lows 10 to 16.

Tuesday: Cloudy. Chance of snow showers in the morning...then chance of snow showers and rain showers in the afternoon. Highs 31 to 37. Chance of precipitation 40 percent.

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Mountain Weather

Yesterday morning one inch of snow fell in the southern Madison Range, Lionhead and Cooke City areas. Temperatures warmed to near 32 degrees Fahrenheit at 9,000 feet and have only cooled into the mid-twenties Fahrenheit last night. Winds have increased out of the west and are blowing 20 to 35 mph. Partly cloudy skies will become mostly cloudy by late this afternoon and mountain temperatures will rise into the upper thirties Fahrenheit today. No new snow is expected; just spring-like warmth, some sun and a few muddy trailheads at lower elevations.

Snowpack and Avalanche Discussion:

Bridger, Gallatin, and Madison Ranges, Lionhead Area near West Yellowstone, and Cooke City:

Yesterday I rode around Lionhead to check on the snowpack. I dug three snowpits and was pleased to find stable snow. Throughout our forecast area there are still weak layers lurking, but without a large weight of new snow they are gaining strength and not exhibiting signs of instability. We saw no avalanche activity and had no fractures on the weak (er) snow buried a few feet deep. The dry snow avalanche danger is dropping, but there are two issues to look out for: wind loading and thin snowpacks.

Wind-loading: Most of the wind-loads were formed a couple days ago. Most slabs are glued into place, but a few smooth, inviting, wind rollers could still break and avalanche (photo). The danger is that they can push you into deadly terrain traps (cliffs, trees, gulleys).

Thin snowpacks: Snowpacks less than three feet deep consist mostly of weak, sugary facets. Most slopes are 5-8 feet deep, but a few of these quickly thin out at their edges/flanks. These edges are where avalanches can be triggered from. This avalanche problem is isolated and worth remembering since it carries consequence.

Winter's buffet of snow and wind has fattened cornices to XXXL sizes. Besides breaking easily from the mere weight of a person, they also can trigger slides as they tumble down the hill (photo). I was reminded of this as I looked up at the bus sized cornices in Lionhead yesterday.

WET SNOW AVALANCHES: Today's temperatures will be well above freezing and create wet snow avalanches on sun exposed slopes. The slides will be wet, loose and confined to the upper few inches of the snowpack. Sinking in past your boot tops in wet snow, or seeing pinwheels gather size as they roll downhill are both early signs that the surface snow is losing strength and can avalanche.

For today, the Avalanche Danger is rated MODERATE on all wind-loaded slopes and on slopes that get a wet surface. All other slopes have a LOW Avalanche Danger. Low Danger does not mean No Danger. The definition of LOW is "Generally safe…watch for unstable snow in isolated terrain…avalanches are unlikely…small avalanches in isolated areas". In other words, don't turn off your brain.

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.