5 January 2006

 Good morning. This is Ron Johnson with the Gallatin National Forest
 Avalanche Advisory issued Thursday, January 5, at 7:30 a.m. 

 MOUNTAIN WEATHER

 Yesterday morning, less than an inch of snow accumulated in the
 Bridger Range, 1-2 inches fell in the mountains around West
 Yellowstone and Cooke City, while the mountains around Big Sky
 received 2-4 inches. Yesterday afternoon, westerly ridgetop winds blew
 20-30 mph and mountain temperatures were in the mid-teens to mid-20s F.

 Today, high pressure over the northern Rockies will produce partly
 cloudy skies and mountain temperatures in the mid-20s to mid-30s F.

 Westerly ridgetop winds will again blow 20-30 mph, though gusts could
 exceed 40 mph.

 SNOWPACK AND AVALANCHE DISCUSSION

 The northern Madison Range, the mountains around Cooke City and the
 Washburn Range:

 Yesterday, a party in the northern Madison Range triggered a small
 avalanche on a wind-protected slope. The soft slab fractured on an
 ice crust buried 1-1.5 feet deep. The party didnt observe any other
 signs of snowpack instability. This is a good example of a moderate
 avalanche danger, which means human triggered avalanches are
 possible. Today, a MODERATE avalanche danger continues on all
 slopes except those steeper than 35 degrees with recent deposits of
 wind-blown snow, the danger on these slopes is CONSIDERABLE.

 I will issue the next advisory tomorrow morning at 7:30 am.