GALLATIN NATIONAL FOREST AVALANCHE ADVISORY
SUNDAY,  JANUARY 11TH, 1998

Good morning, this is Ron Johnson with your Gallatin National Forest Avalanche
 Advisory issued on Sunday, January 11th at 7:30 AM.  The next advisory will be
 issued tomorrow morning.  Today's advisory is sponsored by the Montana Fish,
 Wildlife, and Parks, Snowmobile Safety Program with a matching funds grant
 from the National Forest Foundation.  These advisories do not apply to
 operating ski areas.

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AVALANCHE WARNING

I am issuing a Backcountry Avalanche Warning for the southern Madison and
 southern Gallatin Ranges (south of about Big Sky), the Washburn Range, the
 Lionhead area near West Yellowstone and the mountains around Cooke City. 
 During the past 24 hours these areas have received 8-12 inches of new snow. 
 In addition to the new snow, ridgetop winds have been blowing from the west to
 southwest at 20-30 mph.  More snow and wind is expected during the next 24
 hours.  The new snow is falling onto a snowpack that has significant layers of
 weak snow.  THE AVALANCHE DANGER IS CONSIDERED TO BE HIGH ON ALL SLOPES
 STEEPER THAN 35 DEGREES.  ON SLOPES BETWEEN 30-35 DEGREES THE AVALANCHE DANGER
 IS  CONSIDERABLE.  ON ALL OTHER SLOPES THE AVALANCHE DANGER SHOULD BE
 MODERATE.  Areas of unstable snow exist!  Avalanches both natural and human
 triggered are likely on many steep slopes.  Avalanche paths and runout zones
 should be avoided.

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Wintery weather exists throughout our area.  As I mentioned the southern
 mountains have received 8-12 inches of new snow during the past 24 hours, with
 mountain temperatures in the +20's F.  The northern mountains have gotten 1-2
 inches of new snow and temperatures have been hovering near zero.  The
 mountains around Big Sky are stuck in the middle.  About 3-6 inches of new
 snow has fallen with temperatures in the teens.  Ridgetop winds have been
 about 20-30 mph, mainly from the west to southwest.  More moisture is moving
 into our area and I expect more snow, especially in the southern mountains,
 where another 6-12 inches of new snow could accumulate by tomorrow morning. 
 The northern mountains may get another 1-3 inches.  Mountains temperatures in
 the south should be in the teens to 20's, while the northern mountains will
 continue to be cold with highs in the single digits.  Ridgetop winds will
 continue from the west to southwest at 15-25 mph.  Valley winds in the
 northern part of our area will be brisk from the north to east.  There you
 have it......wet, warm and wild in the south and cold, dry and benign in the
 north.

The northern part of our area hasn't had the amount of new snow loading that
 the southern mountains have had during the past week.  While the snowpack is
 weak, it isn't as unstable as the snowpack in the southern mountains.  FOR
 TODAY, FOR THE NORTHERN MADISON AND GALLATIN RANGES (NORTH OF ABOUT BIG SKY),
 AND THE BRIDGER RANGE, I CONSIDER THE AVALANCHE DANGER TO BE MODERATE ON ALL
 SLOPES STEEPER THAN 35 DEGREES, WITH SPECIAL ATTENTION BEING PAYED TO RECENTLY
 WIND LOADED SLOPES.  ON ALL OTHER SLOPES, I'D CALL THE AVALANCHE DANGER LOW. 
 PLEASE NOTE:  THE AVALANCHE DANGER IN THE MOUNTAINS AROUND BIG SKY COULD BE
 HIGHER , BECAUSE MORE SNOW HAS FALLEN IN THIS AREA.

    

Please pay attention to changing snowpack and weather conditions.  Also,
 remember to be aware of steeper slopes that may be above you or your party.   
 Several recent avalanches have been released from lower angled slopes, when
 the snowpack collapsed and the fracture propagated to steeper slopes. 
 Finally, as always, use caution when travelling in the backcountry, because
 avalanches can occur even during periods of low or moderate avalanche danger.

The next advisory will be issued tomorrow morning by about 7:30 AM.   Call us
 with any snowpack or avalanche observations at 587-6984.  You can also log
 onto our internet home page and drop us an e-mail.  This advisory is also
 available on a recorded message at 587-6981 in Bozeman, 646-7912 in West
 Yellowstone, and 838-2341 in Cooke City, and from our home page at
 http://www.gomontana.com/avalanche.  You can also find a bunch of great
 avalanche information at http://www.avalanche.org and http://www.csac.org. 

END