Daily Winter Weather Report
Date: Tuesday - March 08, 2011
Station | Max Temp | Min Temp | Pres Temp | New Snow | Depth | Sky | Present Conditions |
Canyon | 32 | 4 | 5 | T | 48 | SC | Calm |
East Entrance | 35 | 11 | 16 | T | 42 | OC | Calm |
Grant Village | 37 | 14 | 16 | T | 57 | OC | Calm |
Lake | 25 | 8 | 11 | T | 50 | OC | Calm / lite snow |
Lamar | 37 | 14 | 20 | 1 | 31 | OC | Calm / lite snow |
Madison | 35 | 3 | 15 | 1 | 34 | OC | Calm / snowing |
Mammoth | 41 | 17 | 19 | T | 18 | BC | SW@3-4mph |
Old Faithful | 36 | 6 | 12 | 1 | 38 | OC | ESE@2-3mph |
Pahaska | 35 | 12 | 18 | T | 40 | OC | Calm |
Snake River | 35 | 10 | 20 | 1 | 61 | OC | Calm / lite snow |
Soda Butte | 47 | 9 | 13 | T | 22 | OC | Calm |
Thumb Divide | 37 | 14 | 16 | T | 58 | OC | Calm |
Tower | 34 | 14 | 18 | 0 | 31 | OC | SSW@2-3mph |
West Entrance | 35 | 13 | 14 | T | 46 | OC | Calm / lite snow |
Road Section | Status | Conditions | Public Access / Info |
Gardiner to Mammoth | YR | Good | STR |
Mammoth to Tower | YR | Good | STR |
Tower to NE Entrance | YR | Fair | STR |
Beartooth Highway | CLOSED * | CLOSED * | CLOSED * |
Canyon to Lake | Open | Fair | Oversnow |
Firehole Canyon Drive | Open | - | Oversnow - Snowcoaches only in the morning |
Grant to South Entrance | Open | Good | Oversnow |
Junction to Chief Joseph Hwy | CLOSED * | CLOSED * | CLOSED * |
Lake to East Entrance | CLOSED * | CLOSED * | CLOSED * |
Lake to West Thumb | Open | Fair | Oversnow |
Madison to Old Faithful | Open | Good | Oversnow |
Madison to West Yellowstone | Open | Good | Oversnow |
Mammoth to Norris | CLOSED * | CLOSED * | CLOSED * |
Norris to Canyon | Open | Fair | Oversnow |
Norris to Madison | Open | Good | Oversnow |
Old Faithful to Grant | Open | Good | Oversnow |
YR=Year Round / NR=No Restrictions / STA=Snow Tires Advised / STR=Snow Tires Required
* NOTE: CLOSED FOR THE SEASON.
# Poor road conditions - bare spots and melting snow - Restricted to Snowcoaches Only.
The park service plowing schedule for roads for the spring season.
******** FOR CURRENT ROAD INFORMATION PLEASE CALL 307-344-2117 ********
SPECIAL INFORMATION
by the National Weather Service Riverton, WY Today...Breezy...cloudy. Slight chance of snow in the morning... Then chance of snow in the afternoon. Highs 24°F to 30°F. Southwest winds around 15 mph early in the afternoon increasing to 20 to 25 mph. Chance of snow 40 percent. Tonight...Windy. Cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow. Lows 13°F to 19°F. Southwest winds 20 to 30 mph shifting to the west 15 to 20 mph early in the morning. Wednesday...Breezy. Not as cold. Cloudy. Slight chance of snow in the morning...then chance of snow and slight chance of rain in the afternoon. Highs 32°F to 38°F. Southwest winds 15 to 25 mph. Chance of precipitation 30 percent. Wednesday Night...Breezy. Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of snow. Lows 19°F to 25°F. Southwest winds 15 to 20 mph. Thursday...Breezy. Mostly cloudy. Chance of snow in the morning... Then chance of rain and snow in the afternoon. Highs 37°F to 43°F. Southwest winds 15 to 20 mph. Chance of precipitation 40 percent. Thursday Night...Snow likely. Moderate snow accumulations. Lows 15°F to 21°F. Chance of snow 70 percent. Friday...Mostly cloudy in the morning then becoming partly cloudy. A 40 percent chance of snow. Highs 26°F to 32°F. Friday Night...Colder. Partly cloudy in the evening then becoming mostly cloudy. A 20 percent chance of snow. Lows 6°F to 12°F. Saturday...Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow. Highs 29°F to 35°F. Saturday Night...Cloudy with a 40 percent chance of snow. Lows 11°F to 17°F. Sunday...Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of snow. Highs 28°F to 34°F. Sunday Night...Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow. Lows 14°F to 20°F. Monday...Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow. Highs 31°F to 37°F. |
* * * Snow Depth Totals as reported at SNOTELs * * * | |||
---|---|---|---|
Station | Depth (inches) | Station | Depth (inches) |
Black Bear | 109 | Parker Peak | 84 |
Blackwater | 75 | Snake River Station | 43 |
Canyon | 53 | Sylvan Lake | 63 |
Evening Star | 86 | Sylvan Road | 48 |
Fisher Creek | 104 | Thumb Divide | 58 |
Grassy Lake | 100 | Two Ocean Plateau | - |
Lewis Lake Divide | 97 | West Yellowstone | 46 |
Madison Plateau | 74 | Whiskey Creek | 58 |
Northeast Entrance | 43 | Wolverine | 43 |
from the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center - March 08, 2011 - this report is by Doug Chabot. This advisory does not apply to operating ski areas. Mountain Weather Most mountain locations picked up 1 to 2 inches of new snow in the last 24 hours. Winds have been calm with mountain temperatures last night dropping to 10°F from yesterday's highs in the upper 20s Fahrenheit. Today will turn sunny before clouding up later this afternoon. Temperatures will reach the low 30s Fahrenheit and winds will pick up from the west. Tonight snowfall will measure 2 to 4 inches with ridgetop winds at 20-30 mph. Snowpack and Avalanche Discussion: The Bridger, Madison and Gallatin Ranges, and the Lionhead area near West Yellowstone, the mountains around Cooke City and the Washburn Range: Today is a day of transition. Two things have the potential to ramp up the avalanche danger and create lingering instability and tricky assessment. 1. Yesterday, we formed surface weak layers which are now preserved under 1 to 2 inches of snow. 2. The winds are increasing and will begin to load many slopes. Immediately north of Bridger Bowl skiers found widespread surface hoar at all elevations. Outside Cooke City, small facets were found at the surface on east facing slopes from radiation recrystallization. On direct south facing slopes it may have been too warm for both these layers to develop, but I have a hunch they can be found on many slopes in our forecast area. These layers were capped last night with new snow; a scary gift to be unwrapped later. The mountains are covered with low density powder from the weekend, ammunition for wind slabs. With increasing winds forecasted, this snow will quickly load slopes. The avalanche danger will rise in tandem with wind speeds. On windward slopes the winds may strip weak layers away while leeward terrain gets loaded. Even without a buried weak layer, freshly formed wind slabs will be avalanche prone. On Sunday, Eric and I investigated a slide from the day before in the southern Madison Range. Skiers dropped a cornice which broke out a wind-loaded slope. The avalanche propagated 150 feet wide on a layer of facets. Pictures, video and snowpit of the avalanche are all on the website. Currently, human triggered avalanches are possible on wind-loaded slopes which have a MODERATE Avalanche Danger. Slopes that have not received a wind-load have a LOW Avalanche Danger. If the winds increase as forecasted, I expect the danger to rise to CONSIDERABLE Avalanche Danger. Wind-loading will be obvious with plumes of snow blowing off the ridgelines. A few natural slides by the end of the day will not be out of the question and the likelihood of triggering these wind-loads will increase too. PHOTOS, SNOWPITS, VIDEO and SURVEY RESULTS 1. We've recently uploaded more photos and snowpits to our web site, more than what are linked in the advisory. 2. We're creating a series of "How To…" stability test videos. So far we've got clips on performing a CT and ECT. There are located under Stability Tests on the Resources page. 3. The results from our survey are posted online. Thanks to all who participated. You can check out the results at http://bit.ly/fpLuSi. In response to our survey we added a new page to the website with images of our snowpit profiles. This page is under the Resources/Other Info tab at http://fsavalanche.org/Encyclopedia/snowpit.htm Information provided by Doug Chabot, Mark Staples, and Eric Knoff from the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center. For Photos and Videos, please visit the Avalanche Centers Website! If you have any snowpack or avalanche observations, drop them a line at mtavalanche@gmail.com or call: 406-587-6984. For detailed Avalanche Terms utilized here, please see the Avalanche Glossary. |
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Information provided by Yellowstone National Park, National Weather Service and Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center
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