22-23

<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Wind out of the northwest-west increased overnight and is drifting snow into thicker slabs that make human-triggered avalanches likely today. Fresh wind slabs will be easy to trigger, and could cause avalanches to break deeper and wider on weak layers buried below the 1-4 feet of new snow that fell a couple days ago.&nbsp;</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Since snowfall ended on Saturday morning the snowpack had a break to adjust to the weight of the storm (1-4” of snow water equivalent), and on non-wind loaded slopes the likelihood of avalanches has decreased. However, buried weak layers make it possible to trigger large avalanches for many days, on steep slopes or from lower angle terrain below steep slopes. </span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Yesterday, Dave rode near Cooke City and found layers of feathery, weak surface hoar buried 1-3 feet deep, and he saw recent avalanches that broke under the 1-2 feet of new snow (</span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc40w4p6ujM&amp;list=PLXu5151nmAvTi1DBS…;, </span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.mtavalanche.com/node/27873"><span><span><span><strong><span>…;). On Saturday Doug and I looked at an avalanche in Taylor Fork that broke 1-2.5’ deep on similar weak layers (</span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5_B8ekDO-8"><span><span><span><strong>…;, </span></span></strong></span></span></span><a href="http://www.mtavalanche.com/node/27855"><span><span><span><strong><span>… and photos</span></span></u></span></strong></span></span></span></a><span><span><span><span><span><span>). Last week we saw clear evidence of these buried weak layers layers near West Yellowstone (</span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/node/27817"><span><span><span><strong><span… avalanche at Lionhead</span></span></u></span></strong></span></span></span></a><span><span><span><span><span><span>) and Big Sky (</span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55VuPiasHgw"><span><span><span><strong>… snowpack tests on Buck Ridge video</span></span></u></span></strong></span></span></span></a><span><span><span><span><span><span>). And, in the Bridger Range and Hyalite we documented weak snow on many slopes prior to the recent heavy snowfall (</span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV4GadWjnaA"><span><span><span><strong>… video</span></span></u></span></strong></span></span></span></a><span><span><span><span><span><span>, </span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1HCGdyzt0E"><span><span><span><strong>… Ellis video</span></span></u></span></strong></span></span></span></a><span><span><span><span><span><span>).</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Over the last three days, people reported many large natural and human-triggered avalanches. You can browse the details on our </span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/avalanche-activity"><span><span><span><stro… activity page</span></span></u></span></strong></span></span></span></a><span><span><span><span><span><span>. These show what is possible today, and are a reminder to remain extra cautious of slopes steeper than 30 degrees and lower angle terrain below steep slopes.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Today, avoid steep slopes that have fresh drifts. Watch for large plumes of snow blowing off ridgelines or cracking across the snow surface around your skis as indicators of where fresh drifts exist. On non-wind loaded slopes, carefully assess the stability of the recent new snow, and dig to look for buried weak layers. Avalanche danger is CONSIDERABLE on wind-loaded slopes and MODERATE on all other slopes.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Please share avalanche, snowpack or weather observations via our</span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.mtavalanche.com/node/add/snow_obs"><span><span><span><span>…; </span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><strong><span><u><span><span>website</span></span></u></span></strong></span></span></span></a><span><span><span><span><span><span>, email (</span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><strong><span><span>mtavalanche@gmail.com</span></span></strong></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><span><span>), phone (406-587-6984), or Instagram (#gnfacobs).</span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

<p>Wind increased overnight and is drifting snow into thicker slabs that make human-triggered avalanches likely today. Fresh wind slabs will be easy to trigger, and could cause avalanches to break deeper and wider on weak layers buried below the 1-4 feet of snow that fell a couple days ago. On non-wind loaded slopes the likelihood has decreased, but it remains possible to trigger a large avalanche. Today, avoid slopes that have fresh drifts. On non-wind loaded slopes, carefully assess the stability of the recent new snow, and dig to look for buried weak layers.</p>