THURSDAY, MARCH 16th, 2000



Good morning, this is Ron Johnson with your Gallatin National Forest Avalanche
 Advisory 
issued on Thursday, March 16th, at 7:30 am.  Today's advisory is sponsored by
 RED, purveyors 
of backcountry snowboarding gear.  The next advisory will be issued tomorrow
 morning and this 
advisory does not apply to operating ski areas.



Yesterday, no new snow fell in southwest Montana and the winds were light. 
 These weather 
conditions were a marked change from the previous several days of snow and from
 the strong 
winds which blew on Tuesday.  A progressive weather pattern is setting up in the
 Pacific 
Northwest.  This means that the ridge of high pressure that was responsible for
 yesterday's nice 
weather will be replaced by a weather disturbance that is embedded in a westerly
 flow aloft.  
This weather disturbance could dump about 2-4 inches (5-10 cm) of snow in the
 mountains.  As 
today progresses, clouds will increase with the best chance for snow being later
 tonight.  
Mountain temperatures will reach the upper 20's to low 30's F (-3 to 0 C). 
 Ridgetop winds will start 
out from the west at 10-20 mph and then increase to 15-30 mph by this evening.



Yesterday, I made a quick trip to Cooke City.  It was worth the hours of
 driving!  The skiing and 
snowmobiling conditions were excellent and with clear skies, my partner and I
 got a good look at 
the snowpack and at some recent avalanche activity.  Most of the avalanche
 activity was on 
steep, recently wind loaded slopes that fractured when cornices fell off of the
 ridges and 
triggered the wind slabs beneath them.  Fractures didn't propagate very far, so
 none of the 
avalanches, that we saw, were very large.  Also, most of the avalanches released
 during the 
wind event on Tuesday, as most of the fractures were blown in and the debris was
 covered by 
some fresh snow which fell late Tuesday evening or early Wednesday morning. 
 Yesterday, 
Doug was in the Bridger Range.  He saw evidence of small, soft slab avalanches
 which 
released on Tuesday.  Like the avalanches in Cooke City,  the most recent
 avalanches in the 
Bridger Range were triggered by cornices falling onto recently wind loaded
 slopes.    



With no new snow, significant wind, or reports of significant avalanche activity
 during the past 24 
hours, it appears that the avalanche danger in our area has improved.  FOR
 TODAY, FOR THE 
BRIDGER, GALLATIN,  MADISON AND WASHBURN RANGES, THE LIONHEAD AREA NEAR 
WEST YELLOWSTONE, AND THE MOUNTAINS AROUND COOKE CITY, I  CONSIDER THE 
AVALANCHE DANGER TO BE MODERATE ON  ALL RECENTLY WIND LOADED SLOPES 
STEEPER THAN 35 DEGREES, AND  MOSTLY LOW ON ALL OTHER SLOPES.  



Just a heads up, last evenings cool temperatures could have produced some
 faceted crystals 
on the snow surface.  Not a big deal, unless they survive the day and get buried
 by the new snow 
that is expected later tonight.  Like I said not a big deal,  but my job
 requires that I play "what if".  
For instance, what if.......there are more facets formed than I thought and more
 snow falls than I 
think will fall?  "What if", implies that you need to use caution when cruising
 in the backcountry, 
because avalanches can occur even when the avalanche danger is low or moderate.



The next advisory will be issued  tomorrow morning.  If you get out in the
 backcountry and you 
have any snowpack or avalanche information to share,  please give us a call at
 587-6984 or log 
onto our web site at www.mtavalanche.com.  

END