Trip Planning for Southern Gallatin

as of 5:00 am
Apr 220″ | NA
Apr 21 0″ | NA
Apr 20 0″ | NA
9460′     03/26 at 10:00
16.2℉
NW - 10mph
Gusts 19 mph
9000′     04/22 at 22:00
27℉
61″ Depth
Primary Problem: Wet Snow
Bottom Line: Warm temperatures, wind-loading, and the possibility of rain and snow later in the week will drive avalanche problems. Wet snow avalanches will be the primary concern on most slopes. Get on to the snow early in the day when surface-level crusts are supportable and get off when the crust breaks down and more than the upper few inches of snow become slushy and wet. Relatively small wind-slab avalanches are possible on upper-elevation slopes that remain shady and cool. If the upper snowpack is dry, dig down and back off steep objectives if you find instability in your tests, observe shooting cracks or indications of fresh wind-loading. Reevaluate conditions when a mix of rain and snow moves into the area on Thursday and Friday.

Past 5 Days

Sat Apr 13

Considerable
Sun Apr 14

Considerable
Mon Apr 15

None
Fri Apr 19

None
Mon Apr 22

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

  • Overnight

    Overnight: Mostly clear, with a low around 21. Northeast wind 5 to 7 mph.

    Mostly Clear

    Low: 21 °F

  • Tuesday

    Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 53. East northeast wind 5 to 9 mph becoming west southwest in the afternoon.

    Mostly Sunny

    High: 53 °F

  • Tuesday
    Night

    Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 31. West wind 6 to 9 mph becoming south after midnight.

    Partly Cloudy

    Low: 31 °F

  • Wednesday

    Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 57. Southwest wind 6 to 11 mph.

    Mostly Sunny

    High: 57 °F

  • Wednesday
    Night

    Wednesday Night: Scattered rain showers before 11pm, then scattered rain and snow showers between 11pm and 3am, then a slight chance of snow showers after 3am.  Snow level 10300 feet lowering to 7600 feet after midnight . Mostly cloudy, with a low around 34. South southwest wind 5 to 11 mph.  Chance of precipitation is 30%.

    Scattered
    Rain/Snow

    Low: 34 °F

  • Thursday

    Thursday: A chance of snow before 7am, then a chance of rain and snow between 7am and 9am, then rain after 9am. Some thunder is also possible.  Snow level rising to 8900 feet in the afternoon. High near 52. South southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming west in the afternoon.  Chance of precipitation is 80%.

    Chance
    Rain/Snow
    then Rain

    High: 52 °F

  • Thursday
    Night

    Thursday Night: Rain likely before midnight, then rain and snow likely.  Snow level 8900 feet lowering to 7700 feet after midnight . Mostly cloudy, with a low around 33. West wind 6 to 9 mph.  Chance of precipitation is 70%.

    Rain Likely
    then
    Rain/Snow
    Likely

    Low: 33 °F

  • Friday

    Friday: Snow before 2pm, then rain and snow.  High near 42. Chance of precipitation is 90%.

    Snow Likely
    then
    Rain/Snow

    High: 42 °F

  • Friday
    Night

    Friday Night: Rain and snow likely, becoming all snow after 9pm.  Mostly cloudy, with a low around 31. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

    Rain/Snow
    Likely then
    Snow Likely

    Low: 31 °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.

04 / 19 / 24  <<  
 
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