Good morning. This is Eric Knoff with the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Advisory issued on Sunday, March 8, at 7:30 a.m. Yellowstone Club Community Foundation in partnership with the Friends of the Avalanche Center sponsors today’s advisory. This advisory does not apply to operating ski areas.
Mountain temperatures this morning are in the mid-20s F and winds are blowing 10-20 mph out of the W-NW. Today, temperatures will warm into the 30s and 40s F under partly cloudy skies and winds will continue to blow 10-20 mph out of the W-NW. A quiet weather pattern will remain parked over the area for the next few days.
Bridger Range Madison Range Gallatin Range
Lionhead Area near West Yellowstone Cooke City
Is winter over? This is a question I’ve heard many times over the past few days. In the short term, it appears so. Above average temperatures and dry conditions will persist over the coming days. This warm and dry pattern will not benefit riding conditions (although south facing slopes may see a corn cycle in the next few days), but it will help stabilize the existing wind slab problem that developed during this past week.
Over the past five days, multiple wind slabs have been triggered throughout the forecast area, reminding us that careful snowpack evaluation is still warranted on upper elevation, wind loaded slopes (photo, photo, photo). Fortunately, as warm and dry weather continues, the probability of triggering wind slabs will decline.
A secondary avalanche problem today will be wet snow avalanches. On south and west facing slopes, wet loose avalanches may occur in steep terrain during the afternoon hours. These slow movers will not pose a significant hazard, but could potentially generate enough force to carry or push a skier or rider into unpleasant terrain.
Today, small avalanches are possible in isolated areas, but generally safe avalanche conditions exist and the avalanche danger is rated LOW.
I 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.
AVALANCHE EDUCATION and EVENTS
1-hour Avalanche Awareness, Bozeman, REI, 6:30 - 8 p.m., Wednesday, March 11.