Here is a recap of the season snow history.

A powerful storm on Oct 25 brought the first significant snow to the mountains with snow levels dropping to the valley floor. Up to a foot of snow graced the high country. Aerial observer Chris Benson took these photos of a plastered mountain range, and Chris Bolos got the first turns of the season.

Oct 25 storm snow. Photo by Chris Benson.

Warm temperatures over the next couple of weeks diminished much of the early season snow. This alleviated some of our fears over a widespread, persistent weak layer, but some areas of old snow still remain. This will make things a bit tricky as we move forward and we will have to suspect weak, faceted snow at the base until we prove otherwise. Likely areas of concern are on sheltered, northerly aspects right around treeline, and in areas where the wind has deposited greater amounts of snow.

Photo by Brian Murdock.

A storm on Nov 9-10 brought another 6"-10" to the mountains. With the dry period that followed, this most recent snow will likely become a weak layer of loose, sugary facets at the base of the snowpack. We'll want to pay attention to this before the next snow comes hopefully later this week.

SE face of Mount Peale on Nov 13. Photo by Brian Murdock.

This forecast is from the U.S. Forest Service, which is solely responsible for its content. This forecast describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur.