20-21

<p>Large avalanches are unlikely today. The lower snowpack is mostly stable and the new snow that fell earlier in the week has now bonded to the old snow surface.&nbsp;</p>

<p>While temperatures are warm this morning, the cold front passing through today will generally keep the snow surface from softening more than a few inches deep. Any wet loose avalanches will be small and not much of an issue outside of very steep high consequence terrain. Still, be on alert if you do find yourself sinking deeper into wet snow. There may still be some low elevation slopes that have not solidly refrozen (<a href="https://youtu.be/O0zg6kr5eyw"><strong><u>low elevation wet snow video</u></strong></a>).&nbsp;</p>

<p>Snow showers this afternoon may drop a few inches of new snow by nightfall. Westerly winds will drift any new snow into thin cohesive slabs. These drifts will only be a couple inches deep and won’t pose much of a hazard. Be heads up if you find an unexpectedly deep drift of new snow.&nbsp;</p>

<p>As Alex outlines in his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3YlG7KO6zA"><strong><u>video</u></stro…; from yesterday in Cooke City, conditions can change rapidly in the spring. Expect conditions to become more dangerous anytime there is a substantial amount of new snow or temperatures significantly above freezing.</p>

<p>Today, watch out for isolated pockets of wet snow and small wind drifts. Keep using good travel protocols just in case you get surprised: always carry avalanche rescue gear, only expose one person at a time to steep slopes, and watch your partners from a safe spot.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The avalanche danger is LOW.&nbsp;</p>

<p>If you get out, please send us your observations no matter how brief. You can submit them via our <a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/node/add/snow_observation"><strong><u>websi…;, email (<a href="mailto:mtavalanche@gmail.com"><strong><u>mtavalanche@gmail.com</u></str…;), phone (406-587-6984), or Instagram (#gnfacobs).</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Monday afternoon through Tuesday morning the mountains received 0.4-0.6” of precipitation except for the Northern Gallatin Range and the Taylor Fork, which received 1.0-1.2”. At higher elevations, this equaled 5-10” of snow with less at lower elevations where precipitation began as rain. Our avalanche concerns also vary by elevation. Yesterday, we rode into the Taylor Fork. The low elevation snowpack was an unsupportable, wet mess with small wet avalanches on steep cut banks in contrast to upper elevations where a thick crust supported us&nbsp;and the primary concern involved avalanches from drifts of new snow (<a href="https://youtu.be/O0zg6kr5eyw"><strong>video</strong></a&gt;).</p>

<p>Today, rising temperatures and sunny skies will create two problems:</p>

<ol start="1" type="1">
<li>The new snow will get wet and easily slide on the crust below. These avalanches will not be very deep, but the heavy snow will pack a punch.</li>
<li>Crusts that formed during cooler temperatures the last two days will begin to break down, and larger wet slab avalanches will be possible (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIajdl9hhyo"><strong>wet slab video</strong></a>). This concern will start in lower elevations and sunnier aspects and expand through the day. Sunday’s natural wet slab up the Main Boulder, outside our advisory area, is a good example of this hazard (<a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/images/21/wet-slab-main-boulder"><strong>ph…;).</li>
</ol>

<p>Managing wet snow avalanches is a matter of timing (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MA7kV6fb-Q"><strong>wet snow timing video</strong></a>). Be out the door early and off steep slopes before temperatures rise and the sun blasts the snow. The snowpack will be generally stable other than isolated wind slabs while it is cold and frozen and will become unstable as the surface snow gets moist and the underlying crust breaks down.</p>

<p>Due to changing stability throughout the day, the danger is rated MODERATE and human-triggered avalanches possible.&nbsp;</p>

<p>If you get out, please send us your observations no matter how brief. You can submit them via our <a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/node/add/snow_observation"><strong>website<…;, email (<a href="mailto:mtavalanche@gmail.com"><strong>mtavalanche@gmail.com</strong></a…;), phone (406-587-6984), or Instagram (#gnfacobs).</p>

<p>The mountains received 3-6” of snow equal to 0.3-0.7” of <a href="https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/or/snow/?cid=nrcs142p2… water equivalent</u></a>-SWE with 8” (0.8” SWE) in the Taylor Fork. Continued snowfall this morning will add a couple more inches to the storm total. The old snow surface and the amount of new snow will define avalanches today (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPpeLRBv-Qo&amp;list=PLXu5151nmAvQDzKmH…;). In many areas, a crust formed by cooler temperatures will limit the depth of avalanches the height of the new snow. Assess the interface between the old and new snow before going onto steep slopes remembering that it does not take a very deep avalanche to tumble a skier or rider through nasty terrain. Expect conditions to change and avalanches to become more likely as temperatures warm in the afternoon and the sun hits slopes for the first time.</p>

<p>Where the old snow surface didn’t freeze or precipitation began as rain, avalanches may gouge deeper and be more destructive (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIajdl9hhyo"><strong><u>wet slab video</u></strong></a>). Avoid steep terrain where your skis or sled drop into unsupportable wet snow below the storm snow.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Human-triggered avalanches are possible today and the danger is rated MODERATE.</p>

<p>If you get out, please send us your observations no matter how brief. You can submit them via our <a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/node/add/snow_observation"><strong><u>websi…;, email (<a href="mailto:mtavalanche@gmail.com"><strong><u>mtavalanche@gmail.com</u></str…;), phone (406-587-6984), or Instagram (#gnfacobs).</p>