An avalanche warning has been issued for the mountains of west central Montana above 6000 feet.

Good morning, this is Steve Karkanen at the West Central Montana Avalanche Center.  At elevations above 6000 feet the avalanche danger is now HIGH.  1.5 to 2.5 inches of snow water equivalent or 10 -18 inches of snow the past 24-48 hours has been dropped onto a very weak snowpack.  Wind continues to load leewardWind erodes snow from the windward (upwind) side of an obstacle and deposits snow on the leeward (downwind) side. Deposited snow looks smooth and rounded. You should always beware of recent deposits of wind drifted snow on steep slopes. terrain so locations that did not receive a lot of new snow will have sensitive wind slabsA relatively cohesive snowpack layer. A layer of snow stronger than underlying layers.A cohesive layer of snow formed when wind deposits snow onto leewardWind erodes snow from the windward (upwind) side of an obstacle and deposits snow on the leeward (downwind) side. Deposited snow looks smooth and rounded. You should always beware of recent deposits of wind drifted snow on steep slopes. terrain. Wind slabsA relatively cohesive snowpack layer. A layer of snow stronger than underlying layers. are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow.A cohesive layer of snow formed when wind deposits snow onto leewardWind erodes snow from the windward (upwind) side of an obstacle and deposits snow on the leeward (downwind) side. Deposited snow looks smooth and rounded. You should always beware of recent deposits of wind drifted snow on steep slopes. terrain. Wind slabsA relatively cohesive snowpack layer. A layer of snow stronger than underlying layers.A cohesive layer of snow formed when wind deposits snow onto leewardWind erodes snow from the windward (upwind) side of an obstacle and deposits snow on the leeward (downwind) side. Deposited snow looks smooth and rounded. You should always beware of recent deposits of wind drifted snow on steep slopes. terrain. Wind slabsA relatively cohesive snowpack layer. A layer of snow stronger than underlying layers. are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow. are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow. near ridge tops.

At elevations at or below the snow line the avalanche danger is MODERATE .

The concern we have is the very weak snowpack structure that is widespread.  We continue to see low stabilityThe chance that an avalanche will not occur, relative to a given trigger (usually the weight of a human). scores and are able to propagate clean, energetic failures with the extended column test. The faceted layers we have been describing are now at the breaking point so it is imperative that you mitigate your risk by avoiding steep open terrain for the next few days.

All our observers will be out today checking conditions so we will have a more detailed update Friday morning.

I will issue the next update on Friday morning by 0700.   Be safe out there!