GNFAC Avalanche Advisory for Sat Apr 11, 2015

Not Current Advisory

Good morning. This is Mark Staples with the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Advisory issued on 
Saturday, April 11, at 7:30 a.m. This advisory does not apply to operating ski areas.

Mountain Weather: 

This morning temperatures were a few degrees below freezing at ridgetops. Winds increased overnight 
and were blowing 15-20 mph from the SW gusting 40 mph. Today winds will continue blowing 20-40 mph 
from the SW and high temperatures will be in the upper 30s F. Clouds will move over the area ahead 
of an approaching cold front. Snow will start falling late this afternoon and end tomorrow morning 
with 2-4 inches accumulating.

Snowpack and Avalanche Discussion: 

Madison Range:  

Yesterday temperatures warmed near 40 degrees F under sunny skies which softened slopes with an ice 
crust but not enough to cause wet snow avalanches. The main avalanche problem is wind slabs from the 
new snow and west winds early this week. A few of these wind slabs caused avalanches, but they should 
be well bonded now due to the warm weather. Even though winds increased overnight, I doubt they were 
able to transport more snow.

Clouds and an approaching cold front will limit heating of the snow and I don’t expect any wet 
avalanches today. Wind slabs from early this week should be mostly well bonded, but there may be a 
few on high elevation slopes where the snow remains dry that could still produce a small avalanche. 
Today the avalanche danger is rated LOW.