Good morning. This is Mark Staples with the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Advisory issued on Saturday, April 4, at 7:30 a.m. This advisory and every advisory during the last 25 years have been made possible by Kimberly Schlenker who just retired after 37 years in the Forest Service. Without her, the Avalanche Center would not exist. This advisory does not apply to operating ski areas.
This morning temperatures were in the low 20s F. SW ridgetop winds were blowing 10-20 mph and gusting to 30 mph. A trough of low pressure off the coast of Washington will send moisture and cool temperatures to SW Montana through the weekend. Today clouds will move over the area and produce valley rain and mountain snow by late afternoon. Temperatures should reach the mid 30s F and winds should blow 15-30 mph from the SW. By tomorrow morning 1-2 inches of snow should fall.
Bridger Range Gallatin Range Madison Range
Lionhead area near West Yellowstone Cooke City
Riding conditions are slowly improving mainly near Bozeman and Big Sky where 3-6 inches fell this week. Less fell in other areas. The new snow is sitting on a thick ice crust (photo), and the only avalanche problem is small wind slabs from SW winds. With below freezing temperatures this morning and cloudy skies this afternoon, there should be no wet avalanche problems. Today, avalanche conditions are generally safe and the avalanche danger is LOW.
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.
RECALL OF ORTOVOX S1+ AVALANCHE TRANSCEIVERS
All necessary information about the recall can be found at: www.ortovox.com/recall-s1plus.
The last advisory of the season will be Sunday, April 12.