Good morning. This is Ian Hoyer with the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Forecast issued on Tuesday, April 2nd at 7:00 a.m. Today's forecast is sponsored by Yellowstone Arctic Yamaha in partnership with the Friends of the Avalanche Center. This forecast does not apply to operating ski areas.
There is no new snow to report this morning. Temperatures are in the teens to low 20s F. Winds are southwest to northwest at 5-15 mph. High temperatures will be a few degrees warmer than yesterday, rising into the mid-30s. Skies be mostly sunny in the north and cloudier in the southern ranges. Snow showers will bring a trace of new snow by tomorrow morning.
All Regions
Avalanches are unlikely today. It’s been a month since the last big loading event and the little bit of recent snow has bonded well and stabilized. Moderate temperatures and clouds will keep crusts from breaking down today, keeping wet snow avalanches in check. Still, if you’re stepping out into high consequence terrain, keep small avalanches in the upper snowpack on your list of hazards.
Snow conditions are highly variable depending on aspect and elevation (video, video, video). Yesterday I toured in the northern Bridger Range and found shady slopes still holding dry snow (video). On these sun protected slopes, you might find an isolated wind slab below an upper elevation ridgeline, but these will be small and relatively harmless (photo). There are thick crusts on low elevation and sunny slopes. These crusts only softened up a little, if at all, yesterday and I generally expect them to stay rock hard today as well. If you do find wet snow more than an inch or two deep on a low elevation or particularly sunny slope this afternoon, you could trigger a small loose wet avalanche.
While conditions are generally stable, it is not the time to slack off on good travel practices. Only expose one person at a time to steep slopes, watch your partners from a safe spot, and always carry avalanche rescue gear.
The avalanche danger today is LOW.
If you get out and have any avalanche or snowpack observations to share, contact us via our website, email (mtavalanche@gmail.com), phone (406-587-6984), or Instagram (#gnfacobs).
The Hyalite road is closed to motorized travel until May 16th. Bike and foot traffic is allowed.