New Avalanche Warning: Vulnerable Snowpack Around Cooke City

Montana is getting a lot of snow in this round of storms, with popular mountain terrain becoming unstable. The Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center has issued an Avalanche Warning for the Cooke City area on Friday.

NOTE: This Avalanche Warning does not apply to operating ski areas. This is for backcountry areas and places likely to see backcountry recreationalists.

• An AVALANCHE WARNING has been issued for the mountains around Cooke City.
• Heavy snowfall is overloading pre-existing weaknesses in the snowpack and creating very dangerous avalanche conditions.
• Human-triggered and natural avalanches are likely. Avoid avalanche terrain and avalanche runout zones. The avalanche danger is HIGH on all slopes.
• By tomorrow (Saturday) morning, expect 6-8” of new snow near Cooke City, 4-6” near West Yellowstone, Island Park and Big Sky, and 3-5” around Bozeman.
• Winds will remain moderate and westerly. High temperatures will rise to near freezing in many areas.

The Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center is an incredibly important resource for our area. Their crew in incredibly knowledgeable and are in the field constantly. Bookmark their site to check whenever you head out.

About Cooke City if you are unfamiliar with this popular recreation area:

Cooke City is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Park County, Montana, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 77. Prior to 2010, it was part of the Cooke City-Silver Gate CDP.

• In the last 24 hours, it has snowed:
• 10” (1.0” Snow Water Equivalent) in Cooke City
• 3-5” (0.4-0.6” SWE) near Big Sky, West Yellowstone, Island Park
• 2” (0.2” SWE) in Hyalite

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"Steady snowfall over the last ten days has kept the snowpack teetering on the edge. It’s snowing again and you could easily trigger a large Persistent Slab avalanche on weak layers buried 1-3 ft deep (and deeper in windloaded areas)."