Cooke City

Wind slab avalanches are the primary avalanche concern today, and small dry loose and wet loose slides are possible. On many slopes wind slabs formed on top of weak, sugary facets which could cause them to remain possible to trigger longer than usual. Avoid drifts on steep slopes, and lookout for small wet and dry loose slides, especially where being knocked off your feet would have high consequences.

Wind slab avalanches are the primary avalanche concern today, and small dry loose and wet loose slides are possible. 

In areas that received more recent snowfall a person could trigger wind slab avalanches 4-18” deep. The last two days in Cooke City, I had a couple 6-12” deep drifts crack on small slopes, and saw small natural wind slabs (video, observation). We also received reports from near Big Sky and Bozeman of similar unstable wind slabs (Beehive obs., Mt. Blackmore obs., Buck Ridge wind slab).

From Wednesday to Saturday, 4-7” of snow fell in the mountains near Bozeman, Big Sky and Cooke City, and 0-2” fell elsewhere. Over the last couple days, moderate to strong winds out of the northwest and west drifted the new snow into thicker slabs. On many slopes these wind slabs formed on top of weak, sugary facets (Beehive video, Hebgen video, Bridgers video) which could cause them to remain unstable and possible to trigger longer than usual. These same areas received snow and wind last weekend, and some of the wind slabs that formed at that time could still be unstable. 

Dry loose avalanches can be triggered by a person on steep slopes, primarily on shady slopes where the snow surface did not form a crust yesterday. Dry loose slides can involve the recent snow that fell, or can be composed of the weak, sugary faceted snow that has formed on the surface during recent dry, cold weather. The latter will be slightly larger as these types of facet-sluffs tend to gouge deeper and entrain more snow as they run down slope (example near Cooke City).

Above freezing temperature and sunshine will make wet loose avalanches possible, especially in places that received recent snowfall which could become moist and unstable quickly, and in the Bridger Range where temperatures will be warmest.

Avalanche danger is MODERATE near Cooke City and in the Bridger, Northern Gallatin, and Northern Madison Ranges. Avoid drifts on steep slopes, and lookout for small wet and dry loose slides, especially where being knocked off your feet would have high consequences.

Where little to no snow fell recently, avalanches are unlikely and any slides will be small, but you should remain on the lookout for isolated drifts and dry loose avalanches composed of sugary facets. Avalanche danger is LOW in the Southern Madison and Southern Gallatin Ranges, Lionhead Area near West Yellowstone, and Island Park.

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