As of Wednesday evening, around 3" of new snow has blanketed our mountains with some favored southern locations in the Swan and Mission Ranges showing a foot of snow.  We should see a ramp-up in snowfall on Thursday favoring the northern ranges.  The new snow is mostly accumulating on bare ground, which will minimize avalanche concerns on these slopes for now.  The areas of most concern are slopes with existing continous snow coverage left over from our last storm.   You can find a residual patchy network of old crusts above 6,000 feet, mostly on shaded slopes or in some gullies on other aspects.  Storm slabs that form over these older layers will be sensitive to human triggers on terrain features steeper than 35 degrees, especially in wind-affected terrain.   With a NE and E wind direction in the forecast, keep an eye for unusual wind loading patterns and thicker slabs on leeward aspects if winds increase during the storm.   

The 7th annual Northern Rockies Snow and Avalanche Workshop is this Saturday. We have a great lineup of speakers and a killer raffle, so don't miss it!  

The FAC will monitor conditions through the fall and post updates as the snowpack evolves.  More detailed daily advisories will begin late November or as conditions warrant.