On November 3 Longmire received it's first recorded snow for the 2017/2018 winter season and it looks like there's a lot more on the way. The UW GFS model shows anothher good hit of snow coming our way with significant accumulation.
Of course Paradise received considerably more snow than Longmire did and this is welcome news for skiers and boarders. We want to make sure that folks are taking precautions with all of the new snow we are expecting. The Northwest Avalanche Center has not yet begun issuing a daily forecast yet but it has issued a statement for the weekend. The one that pertains to the Paradise area can be found here.
Reading through it will give you an idea of what to expect if you're planning to travel above treeline, especially this:
Given the recent heavy snowfall in parts of our forecast zones, expect the potential for avalanches at higher elevations as conditions for storm slab and loose dry avalanches (primarily) will be present this weekend where anchoring is insufficient.
For more reading about early season avalanche hazard check out this short paper by Avalanche Canada.
Have fun out there but please be safe!
