Advisory Archive

Snowfall on Thursday night brought 2-3” inches of snow to the mountains near Bozeman, 5” near Big Sky, and 7-8” near West Yellowstone, Island Park and Cooke City. Winds have been out of the south and west at 10-20 mph with 30-45 mph gusts. Temperatures are in the 20s F this morning. Highs today and tomorrow will be in the 20s and 30s F. Winds will remain moderate out of the southwest today and shift more northerly tomorrow. More snow is on the way starting this afternoon or evening. It looks to favor the Island Park area where we could see 6-10” by tomorrow morning. 2-6” will fall across the rest of the advisory area. Another pulse of snow is forecasted for Monday night.

Snowfall on Monday night and Tuesday delivered up to 6” in the mountains, and cooler weather has settled in through at least next weekend. Temperatures are teens to 20s F this morning. Wind has been out of the west-northwest and shifted southerly this morning. Temperatures for the next few days will be high teens to low 20s overnight with daytime highs reaching high 20s to low 30s F. Wind will be out of the southwest at 5-15 mph with gusts to 25 mph. Another round of light snowfall is expected Thursday through Saturday morning with 3-5” in most of our forecast area, and up to 8” possible in the mountains south of Big Sky to West Yellowstone and Island Park.

Over the last week, the mountains have gotten a few light dustings of snow intermixed with warm and sunny weather. This trend looks to continue over the next week. Warm and sunny weather are expected this weekend before chances for snowfall return on Monday and continue through the following work week.

A winter storm blew into Southwest Montana Wednesday night (10/16) with mountain temperatures dropping into the teens to 20s F by Friday morning. Precipitation shifted to snow, blanketing the mountains with 4-6” in most areas and up to 10” in the Northern Gallatin and Southern Madison Ranges. This weekend and into early next week, mountain temperatures will peak in the 40s to 50s F under sunny skies, and winds will blow 5-15 mph from the northwest to the southwest. There is a chance for additional precipitation Monday night into Tuesday.

For current weather data check our weather stations in Cooke City, Hyalite, Lionhead, as well as Bridger Bowl’s weather stations, and SNOTEL sites throughout our advisory area. We will update the Weather and Avalanche Log and issue pre-season bulletins as needed.

Spring weather can be highly variable and create a mix of avalanche problems to watch for. Snow conditions and snow stability can change drastically from day to day or hour to hour. Anticipate rapid change and plan accordingly. Plenty of snowfall over the winter with more spring snow to come makes avalanches possible into summer.

Since Thursday there has been a mix of snow and rain up to 8000’ with mostly snow above. Near Big Sky, Hyalite, Island Park and Cooke City received 8-15” of snow (0.9-1.9” snow water equivalent), and the Bridger Range and West Yellowstone got 2-4” (0.5-0.7” SWE). Over the weekend temperatures reached mid-30s to low 40s F during the days, and dropped to low 30s F most nights. On Saturday wind shifted to the east with gusts to 25 mph, and yesterday backed to westerly at 5-15 mph. 

This morning, temperatures are 20s to low 30s F, and wind is west-southwest at 5-15 mph. Temperatures will reach high 30s to mid-40s F today, and drop to teens F overnight. The next few days temperatures will reach low 30s F with overnight lows in the teens F. This afternoon wind will increase to 15-25 mph with gusts of 30-40 mph out of the west-southwest. Snow showers tonight could drop 1-3” by morning. More snow showers tomorrow evening through Thursday could drop up to a foot of snow in the mountains near Bozeman, Big Sky, and Cooke City with 1-3” near West Yellowstone and Island Park. Next weekend, wet spring weather looks to continue with temperatures warming back to 30s and 40s F.

Prior to yesterday, the mountains had not received any snow since last Thursday. This week was mostly sunny with daytime temperatures reaching 40s and 50s F the last few days, and cooler cloudy weather arrived yesterday. This morning the mountains near Big Sky, Cooke City, and Hyalite have 4-6” of new snow with 2-3” near Island Park and none elsewhere. Temperatures are high 20s to mid-30s F, and wind is out of the west-northwest at 5-10 mph. 

This weekend, daytime high temperatures will reach high 30s to low 40s F, and overnight lows will be high 20s to low 30s F. Wind will be northeast-east at 5-15 mph today, then shift to east at 15-25 mph tomorrow morning, and back to northwest-west on Sunday. Through the weekend snow is expected at higher elevations with the rain/snow line somewhere between 6500’ and 8000’. Showers later today and tonight will favor Big Sky and Cooke City with 5-8”, and elsewhere could get 2-3” by tomorrow morning, with a few more inches possible through the weekend.

Since Friday, there has been a mix of sun and clouds with no significant precipitation. Temperatures have generally been above freezing during the day and below freezing at night. On Monday morning, temperatures are in the teens to 20s F, with 10-20 mph winds from the west to northwest.

This week, peak high temperatures in the 40s to low 60s F will be on Wednesday, with the warmest temperatures occurring in the mountains around Bozeman and Big Sky. In many areas, nighttime lows will be above freezing. Temperatures will cool again on Thursday, with a mix of rain and snow beginning Wednesday night.

Since Monday, there’s been a mix of sun and clouds and rain and snow (depending on elevation). A storm on Tuesday and Wednesday brought over a foot of snow to the northern Gallatin and Madison Ranges, with 9-10” across much of the rest of the advisory area and around 3” near West Yellowstone and Island Park. High temperatures have been in the 20s and 30s F with lows in the single digits and teens F. Winds have been variable, shifting around the compass. 

Expect mostly sunny skies and increasingly warm temperatures over the next couple days with highs in the 30s F today, 40s F tomorrow, and 50s F on Sunday. It may snow and/or rain on Sunday, but don’t expect much accumulation.