Trip Planning for Southern Gallatin

as of 5:00 am
Today0″ | NA
Apr 15 0″ | NA
Apr 14 0″ | NA
9460′     03/26 at 10:00
16.2℉
NW - 10mph
Gusts 19 mph
9000′     04/16 at 12:00
43℉
63″ Depth
Primary Problem: Wet Snow
Bottom Line: Daily forecasts are done for the season, but avalanches will continue. Remain diligent with your snowpack assessments and route-finding, and adapt your decision-making to changing conditions. On Monday and Tuesday, wet snow avalanches are likely. The snow is unstable on a spectrum, from when the upper few inches of the snowpack are wet and slushy to the entire snowpack being unsupportable. Avoid steep slopes and runout zones where these scenarios are present. Beginning Tuesday night, as snow returns to the area, watch for signs of instability within the new and wind-drifted snow, such as shooting cracks, and dig down until you find a supportable crust to test for instability above this level. Avoid steep slopes where you find instability.

Past 5 Days

Thu Apr 11

Considerable
Fri Apr 12

Considerable
Sat Apr 13

Considerable
Sun Apr 14

Considerable
Mon Apr 15

None

Relevant Avalanche Activity

Out of Advisory Area
Other place
Wet Slab in Yellowstone
Incident details include images
Other place
WS-N-R2-D2-O
Elevation: 7,500
Aspect: N
Coordinates: 44.6432, -110.9540
Caught: 0 ; Buried: 0

Saw what looked like a wet slab avalanche from the road along the Madison River.  Roughly north facing slope at 7500'.


More Avalanche Details
Southern Madison
Quake Lake
Wet Slab Avalanche Above Quake Lake
Incident details include images
Quake Lake
WS-N-R2-D2-G
Coordinates: 44.8524, -111.3920
Caught: 0 ; Buried: 0

From IG: Wet slide to the ground above Quake Lake. 


More Avalanche Details

Relevant Photos

Displaying 1 - 18
  • Saw what looked like a wet slab avalanche from the road along the Madison River.  Roughly north facing slope at 7500'.

  • Skiers a few days ago saw several deep natural avalanches near the head of Swan Creek. These avalanches broke 2-5' deep, 2000' wide, and ran "full track". The exact date of when these avalanches happened is unknown but they likely happened over a week ago in the first few days of March. Photo: S. Reinsel

  • Skiers a few days ago saw several deep natural avalanches near the head of Swan Creek. These avalanches broke 2-5' deep, 2000' wide, and ran "full track". The exact date of when these avalanches happened is unknown but they likely happened over a week ago in the first few days of March. Photo: S. Reinsel

     

     

  • Riders saw a large crack in the snow near the Cabin Creek Cabin in the S. Madison Range. This is a red flag for unstable conditions. Anonymous

     

  • Do you like to hike? Do you like to ski? Then the King & Queen of the Ridge is for you. Hike, ski and raise money for the Friends of the Avalanche Center in their 2nd biggest fundraiser of the year. Join the effort to promote and support avalanche safety and awareness! Fundraising prizes for top 5 individuals who raise over $500. No racing is necessary to compete for the fundraising prizes. Info to fundraise is HERE or donate here. Race participants for the [insert dates] event must register separately with Bridger Bowl here.

  • Photo and observation from 01/20

    From obs: "Large roller balls were observed in avalanche terrain on a SE aspect at 8,300'. Alongside this observation, rather wet, sticky snow was observed throughout the tour, causing multiple glopping incidents on our skins." Photo: E. Webb

     

  • Skiers on 01/20 saw a natural avalanche that happened the day before on 01/19. Photo: E. Webb

  • From observations on 01/20:

    Shooting cracks above a cornice that created a small avalanche. Photo: D. Halama

  • From observation on 01/20:

    While approaching a cornice skiers collapsed the slope and triggered a small cornice. Photo: E. Webb

  • A small avalanche was seen in Black Bear Canyon on 01/14. This was a recent avalanche that happened today or yesterday 01/13. 

  • Cracking at Fawn Pass this was accompanied by multiple collapses during the tour. Photo: S. Reinsel

  • Large surface near Little Bear. Photo: JR Mooney

  • From IG on 12/10: "2 slides we triggered remotely in tepee yesterday"

  • From obs: "Dug into the hillside right before going up the creek. Snow pack was 75 cm deep consisting of three layers. Bottom 35cm is obviously faceted, grain size is around 2mm. Very thin ice crust at around 35cm. Upper 35 cm of snow is brand new snow from this current storm, precipitation particles, low density, with minor wind effect. Performed a quick Compression Test and the ice crust layer failed on the second tap." Photo: S. Gralla

  • From IG: “Pine creek today, some small wind slabs and a full depth wet slide off black mountain”

  • From IG: “Pine creek today (10/21), some small wind slabs and a full depth wet slide off black mountain”

  • From obs. "Was out alpine climbing today and observed the north face of Blackmore had slid already."

  • Get your tickets and online bid for items HERE!

Videos- Southern Gallatin

WebCams


Electric Peak

Roosevelt Arch

Snowpit Profiles- Southern Gallatin

 

Select a snowpit on the map to view the profile image

Weather Stations- Southern Gallatin

Weather Forecast Southern Gallatin

Extended Forecast for

17 Miles SE Big Sky MT

Winter Weather Advisory April 16, 11:00pm until April 18, 06:00amClick here for hazard details and duration Winter Weather Advisory
  • This
    Afternoon

    This Afternoon: Scattered rain showers before 4pm, then rain and snow showers likely.  Snow level 7800 feet. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 46. Breezy, with a southwest wind 11 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.  Chance of precipitation is 70%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.

    Rain/Snow
    Likely and
    Breezy

    High: 46 °F

  • Tonight

    Tonight: Rain and snow showers, becoming all snow after 1am.  Low around 20. Southwest wind 8 to 10 mph becoming north after midnight.  Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.

    Rain/Snow
    then Snow
    Showers

    Low: 20 °F

  • Wednesday

    Wednesday: Snow showers likely, mainly before 7am.  Mostly cloudy, with a high near 30. North northwest wind 8 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.  Chance of precipitation is 60%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.

    Snow Showers
    Likely

    High: 30 °F

  • Wednesday
    Night

    Wednesday Night: Scattered snow showers, mainly before 9pm.  Partly cloudy, with a low around 11. North wind 6 to 11 mph becoming light north northwest  after midnight.  Chance of precipitation is 30%.

    Scattered
    Snow Showers

    Low: 11 °F

  • Thursday

    Thursday: A 20 percent chance of snow showers after noon.  Mostly sunny, with a high near 33. Light north northwest wind becoming northwest 5 to 10 mph in the morning.

    Mostly Sunny
    then Slight
    Chance Snow
    Showers

    High: 33 °F

  • Thursday
    Night

    Thursday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 13. North northeast wind 6 to 10 mph.

    Mostly Cloudy

    Low: 13 °F

  • Friday

    Friday: A 20 percent chance of snow showers.  Partly sunny, with a high near 36. North wind 6 to 11 mph.

    Slight Chance
    Snow Showers

    High: 36 °F

  • Friday
    Night

    Friday Night: A 20 percent chance of snow showers before midnight.  Partly cloudy, with a low around 15.

    Slight Chance
    Snow Showers
    then Partly
    Cloudy

    Low: 15 °F

  • Saturday

    Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 46.

    Mostly Sunny

    High: 46 °F

The Last Word

We began our daily forecasts on December 7. 130 daily forecasts and 464 reported avalanches later, we wrapped up our daily forecasting season on April 14th. While avalanches remain a concern until the snow is in the rivers, read our SEASON SUMMARY to look back at the heart of the 2023-24 avalanche year.

Additionally, please join us in congratulating Doug Chabot on his retirement from the GNFAC after 29 years of forecasting and 25 years as the center’s director. Thank you for everything, Doug!

04 / 14 / 24  <<  
 
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