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Daily Winter Weather Report

Date: Tuesday - 12 February 2013

Yellowstone National Park Winter Weather Links
Avalanche Advisory Special Weather Info
Daily Winter Weather Report Winter Road Report
Snow Depth Totals Yellowstone Weather Forecast


Station Pres Temp Max Temp Min Temp New Snow Depth Sky Present Conditions
Bechler 10.0 10.0 8.0 0   OC N @ 2 mph
Canyon 6.6 6.6 -0.9 .10 33 OC  
East Entrance 10.9 11.7 8.8 .01   OC  
Lake 3.9 3.9 -0.9 0   OC Calm
Madison 7.5 8.3 3.7     OC  
Mammoth 11.1 12.1 9.7 0   OC WSW @ 2 mph
NE Entrance 12.4 12.4 10.9 .10 21 OC  
Old Faithful 11.5 11.5 7.8 0   OC SE @ 3 - 5 mph
Soda Butte 8.2 8.2 -0.4 0   OC  
South Entrance 6.0 7.3 3.7 0 39 OC  
Sylvan Lake 7.3 9.9 -2.9 0 46 OC  
Sylvan Road 13.8 13.8 -0.6 0 29 OC  
Thorofare 7.0 7.0 3.0 0   OC E @ 2 - 5 mph
Thumb Divide 7.9 7.9 6.1 .40 41 OC  
Tower 2.6 2.8 -5.4 0   OC Calm
West Entrance 9.3 9.3 9.3 0 26 OC  
T=Trace/ BC=Broken Clouds/ C=Clear/ OC=Overcast/ SC=Scattered Clouds
All Temperatures are in °F ~ All Snow Depths are in Inches

* * Live Weather via All Yellowstone WebCams * *

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* * * Road Conditions * * *
Road Section Status Conditions Public Access / Info
Gardiner, MT to Mammoth Open * Good STR - Not Maintained from 4:30 PM to 6:00 AM
Mammoth to Tower Open * Snow Packed/Icy STR - Not Maintained from 4:30 PM to 6:00 AM
Tower to NE Entrance Open * Snow Packed/Icy STR - Not Maintained from 4:30 PM to 6:00 AM
Beartooth Highway CLOSED CLOSED CLOSED
Canyon to Lake Open   Rubber tracked oversnow concession vehicles
Canyon to Tower CLOSED CLOSED CLOSED ♦    (Dunraven Pass)
Grant to South Entrance Open   Rubber tracked oversnow concession vehicles
Junction to Chief Joseph Hwy CLOSED CLOSED CLOSED
Lake to East Entrance Open   Rubber tracked oversnow concession vehicles
Lake to West Thumb Open   Rubber tracked oversnow concession vehicles
Madison to Old Faithful Open   Rubber tracked oversnow concession vehicles
Madison to West Yellowstone Open   Rubber tracked oversnow concession vehicles
Mammoth to Norris Open   Rubber tracked oversnow concession vehicles
Norris to Canyon Open   Rubber tracked oversnow concession vehicles
Norris to Madison Open   Rubber tracked oversnow concession vehicles
Old Faithful to Grant Open   Rubber tracked oversnow concession vehicles

* = Open year-round to wheeled vehicle travel.
NR=No Restrictions / STA=Snow Tires Advised / STR=Snow Tires Required

♦ =  CLOSED FOR THE WINTER SEASON

The park service plowing schedule for roads for the spring season.

******** FOR CURRENT ROAD INFORMATION PLEASE CALL 307-344-2117 ********


¤ ¤ - Please Note - ¤ ¤
There is NO wheeled vehicle travel East of Cooke City, Montana during the winter. This road (U.S. Highway 212), is Closed to Wheeled Vehicle Travel to the East as it is not plowed or maintained until late spring. In order to exit Cooke City, Montana, or Silver Gate, Montana, and Yellowstone, you must travel West back through Yellowstone to the North Entrance at Gardiner, Montana to exit the park and these towns.

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SPECIAL INFORMATION

    Caution advised for snow falling off of building roofs. Park accordingly.

    Dangerous avalanche conditions may already exist in many back country areas, please call the Recorded Avalanche Advisory 406-587-6981 for the most current conditions. Also, see the Avalanche Advisory posted below.

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Yellowstone Seven Day Forecast on February 12, 2013
by the National Weather Service Riverton, Wyoming

Today: Mostly cloudy. Patchy fog in the morning. Isolated snow showers in the afternoon. Chance of snow 20 percent. Highs 18°F to 24°F. Lowest wind chill readings -15°F to -25°F in the morning.

Tonight: Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of snow. Lows 1°F to 7°F.

Wednesday: Breezy. Cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow. West winds 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon. Highs 22°F to 28°F.

Wednesday Night: Cloudy with a 40 percent chance of snow. West winds around 15 mph in the evening. Lows 9°F to 15°F.

Thursday: Cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow. Highs 19°F to 25°F.

Thursday Night: Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow. Lows 4°F to 10°F.

Friday: Partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow. Highs 23°F to 29°F.

Friday Night: Partly cloudy. Lows 6°F to 12°F.

Saturday: Mostly sunny in the morning then becoming partly cloudy. Highs 26°F to 32°F.

Saturday Night: Partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow. Lows 10°F to 16°F.

Sunday: Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of snow. Highs 24°F to 30°F.

Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of snow. Lows 4°F to 10°F.

Monday / Presidents' Day: Partly cloudy. Highs 17°F to 23°F.

Snowflake Hazardous Weather Forecast Snowflake Yellowstone & Grand Teton Forecasts Snowflake Gibbon Falls Forecast Snowflake Mammoth Forecast Snowflake Midway Forecast Snowflake Norris Forecast Snowflake Old Faithful Forecast Snowflake

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* * * Snow Depth Totals as reported at SNOTELs * * *
Station Depth (inches) Station Depth (inches)
Black Bear 82 Parker Peak 54
Blackwater 54 South Entrance 39
Canyon 33 Sylvan Lake 46
Evening Star 63 Sylvan Road 29
Fisher Creek 73 Thumb Divide 41
Grassy Lake 63 Two Ocean Plateau 61
Lewis Lake Divide 65 West Yellowstone 26
Madison Plateau 54 Whiskey Creek 33
Northeast Entrance 21 Wolverine 22

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Avalanche Advisory

from the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center - February 12, 2013 - this report is by Doug Chabot. This advisory does not apply to operating ski areas.

Mountain Weather

Last night a trace to one inch of snow fell in the southern mountains. Currently, westerly winds are blowing 10 to 20 mph except in the Bridger Range and Hyalite where they are reading 30 to 40 mph. Temperatures are near 10 degrees Fahrenheit under partly cloudy skies. Today will be partly to mostly cloudy with winds increasing out of the west to northwest. A trace to one inch may fall later tonight.

Snowpack and Avalanche Discussion:

Cooke City:

Cooke City is loving life: deep snow and mostly stable conditions. This could change if winds increase and build slabs, but for the moment the place you may find unstable snow would be on lower elevation slopes that have thin snow cover (video). For today, the Avalanche Danger remains LOW.


Southern Gallatin and Madison Ranges, Lionhead area near West Yellowstone:

Without new snow or wind-loading the avalanche danger from Big Sky to West Yellowstone is slowly improving, but getting trickier to assess. There are two problems buried in the snow. The first problem is on slopes with a thinner snowpack (about three feet thick or less) where 2/3 of it is facets. Eric and I toured in Beehive Basin yesterday and confirmed this. Other skiers around Big Sky on Sunday and Monday also got collapsing and cracking and triggered a small pocket on a thin, west facing slope (photo). Yesterday on Lionhead Ridge outside of West Yellowstone skiers triggered a thinly covered slope that had a wind-slab on it (photo). Many slopes do not have these instabilities and will not crack or "whumph". In the absence of obvious warning signs, the first line of defense should be a quick probe to feel for a thin snow depth—thin is bad.

The second problem is confined to the southern Madison Range and Lionhead area. A layer of surface hoar and/or small facets are buried 1 to 2 feet deep. These are gaining strength, but can still avalanche. Luckily they are easy to spot as a dark stripe in a snowpit. These are worth digging for and testing. To be conservative I recommend skiing or sledding elsewhere if you find them.

For today, the Avalanche Danger is rated MODERATE on all slopes since human triggered avalanches are still possible.


Bridger Range, and Northern Gallatin Range:

Strong winds in the Bridger and northern Gallatin Ranges are scouring some slopes and loading others. The Hyalite area has a foot of snow that fell early Sunday morning which is now blowing around. On Saturday evening skiers triggered an avalanche on Alex Lowe Peak, located southwest of Mount Blackmore. The snowpack was thin, weak and capped with a dense wind slab. The price they paid was only a lost ski and a cold bivouac. Separately, avalanches can be expected where the snowpack is thin and also on wind-loaded slopes, but combined these create especially worrisome conditions. Although the Bridger Range did not get the snow that Hyalite did, their downhill winds are especially strong and scouring the alpine regions while loading slopes and gullies at mid-elevations. Today the Avalanche Danger is rated CONSIDERABLE on all wind-loaded terrain. All other slopes have a MODERATE Avalanche Danger.

The next advisory tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m. If you have any snowpack or avalanche observations, drop us a line at mtavalanche@gmail.com or call us at: 406-587-6984.


EDUCATION, PHOTOS, SNOWPITS, and VIDEOS

1. For links to Articles, Education and (photos), (snowpits), or (videos) listed in the above report, please visit this Link.

2. They have recently uploaded more photos and snowpits to their web site, more than what are linked in the advisory above.

3. They have creating a series of "How To…" stability test videos. So far they have clips on performing a CT and ECT. They are located under Stability Tests on their Resources page.

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.



Avalanche Danger Scale

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Back to the Yellowstone Daily Winter Reports or the Yellowstone Weather Page

Information provided by Yellowstone National Park, National Weather Service and Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center


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