28 December 2006

 Good morning. This is Ron Johnson with the Gallatin National Forest
 Avalanche Advisory on Thursday, December 28 at 7:30 a.m. Gallatin
 County Search and Rescue in partnership with the Friends of the
 Avalanche Center sponsor todays advisory. This advisory does not apply
 to operating ski areas.

 WEATHER

 Overnight, over 6 inches of snow accumulated in the mountains around
 Bozeman. One to two inches fell in the mountains around Big Sky, 4-6
 inches fell in the mountains around West Yellowstone and a couple of
 inches fell in the mountains around Cooke City. While folks in West
 Yellowstone and Cooke City have enjoyed fresh snow several times this
 season; today, residents of Bozeman can finally join the celebration
 as the town is blanketed with several inches of snow.

 At 4:00 a.m., mountain temperatures were in the upper teens to low 20s
 F, and northerly ridgetop winds were 5-15 mph. Today, moisture
 wrapping around low pressure south of Montana will favor the mountains
 around Bozeman with another 2-4 inches, while less than 2 inches will
 accumulate in the other mountains of southwest Montana. Today,
 mountain temperatures will be in the teens to low 20s F and northerly
 ridgetop winds will remain less than 20 mph.

 SNOWPACK AND AVALANCHE DISCUSSION

 The southern Madison and southern Gallatin Ranges, and the Lionhead
 area near West Yellowstone:

 Eight to twelve inches of snow accumulated in the southern Gallatin
 and southern Madison Ranges during the past 48 hours. Layers of
 surface hoar buried 2 and 3 feet deep will likely produce
 avalanches, especially on recently wind-loaded slopes. Today, the
 avalanche danger is HIGH on all wind-loaded slopes. A
 CONSIDERABLE avalanche danger exists on non wind-loaded slopes
 steeper than 35 degrees. Less steep non wind-loaded slopes have a
 MODERATE danger.