Good morning. This is Mark Staples with the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Advisory issued on Friday, March 29 at 7:30 a.m. Montana Import Group in partnership with the Friends of the Avalanche Center sponsors today’s advisory. This advisory does not apply to operating ski areas.
Yesterday high temperatures were in the 40s F and cooled to around 30 degrees F by this morning. Winds were blowing 5-10 mph from the WSW with gusts of 15-20 mph. Today should be mostly cloudy with snow falling this afternoon. Temperatures today will reach the high 30s F and winds shouldn’t change much. By tomorrow morning the mountains near Big Sky will get 2-3 inches of snow and all other areas will get 1-2 inches.
Bridger Range Madison Range Gallatin Range
Lionhead area near West Yellowstone Cooke City
Ideally during this time of year, the snowpack will experience a solid refreeze every night. In coming weeks, watch for nights when temperatures remain above freezing especially if they do so for multiple nights in a row. The NRCS SNOTEL sites are good sources for such temperature data. Also watch for rain which can quickly increase the wet snow avalanche danger. Fortunately for today, temperatures dropped just below freezing last night, and mostly cloudy skies today will limit warming of the snow thus limit the wet snow avalanche danger.
At upper elevations on north facing terrain, dry snow, good riding, and stable conditions exists. Doug, Eric and I dismantled the Hyalite weather station on Flanders Mountain yesterday. We confidently skied a north facing couloir where our main concern was hitting rocks not triggering an avalanche.
For today the avalanche danger is rated LOW but could rise this afternoon if rain falls instead of snow, especially at lower elevations.
Eric will issue 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 587-6984.
Take Note:
Our 136th and last avalanche advisory will be on Sunday, April 7th.