Saturday, January 12th, 2008

 Good morning. This is Scott Schmidt with the Gallatin National Forest
 Avalanche Advisory issued on Saturday, January 12th, at 7:30 a.m. This
 advisory does not apply to operating ski areas.

 MOUNTAIN WEATHER

 Rise and shine powder hounds! The magic of the northwest flow is upon
 us. In the past 12 hours, 5 7 inches of fluffy snow has fallen in the
 Bridger Ranges. Four to six inches has fallen in the mountains around
 Big Sky, with 1 3 inches in the mountains near West Yellowstone and
 Cooke City. Winds have been 10 25 mph from the northwest, and morning
 temperatures are in the mid-teens at 9000 feet.

 Skies will be cloudy today with scattered showers. Winds will shift
 west/northwest and increase, to 25 35 mph at the ridgetops as another
 weather disturbance moves into our area. There is a chance for more
 snow tonight with accumulations of 1 3 inches throughout our advisory
 area.

 SNOWPACK AND AVALANCHE DISCUSSION

 The northern Gallatin Range and northern Madison Range:

 Mark did an extensive tour in the Madison Range north of Big Sky
 Thursday. He and his partner found a variety of stability
 conditions on the slopes they investigated. Areas with a snowpack less
 then a meter (40 inches) deep are exhibiting signs of instability,
 regardless of aspect, and the most unstable snow exists on
 south-facing slopes. In all cases, the weak layer of concern is
 faceted crystals near the ground. Several inches of snow has fallen in
 these mountains over the past several days and winds have been from
 the northwest adding additional load to south-facing terrain. Today,
 the avalanche danger in the northern Gallatin and northern Madison
 Ranges remains CONSIDERABLE slopes steeper than 35 degrees that have
 been loaded by recent winds. A MODERATE danger exists on all other
 slopes.