With snowfall, avalanche forecasts could come sooner

The Flathead National Forest avalanche center typically starts forecasting in early December, but snow is piling up in the backcountry and users could see initial reports far sooner.

“If this continues, we’ll definitely start earlier this year,” FNF avalanche specialist Seth Carbonari said.

The Flathead Avalanche Center will name a director this week, FNF spokesman Wade Muehlhof said. Their Web site is www.flatheadavalanche.org.

Forest Service lands are not open to snowmobiling until Dec. 1, but plenty of backcountry skiers could be hitting the backcountry soon, if they haven’t already.

Carbonari spends his summer months as a fire management officer on the Spotted Bear Ranger District. Last week, he was still at the ranger station at the south end of the Hungry Horse Reservoir when a Nov. 5 storm dumped six inches of snow there.

Another storm hit the region Nov. 7, and the extended forecast calls for a continued wet weather pattern through the week, with snow in the high country and a rain-snow mix at lower elevations.

Carbonari said there’s enough snow to ski on at Spotted Bear. Glacier National Park was reporting eight inches of snow at headquarters in West Glacier late last week, and more was falling.

The roads around the reservoir to Spotted Bear aren’t plowed, and nearly 20 inches of snow had fallen near Firefighter Mountain, Carbonari said.

Some staff had already left the ranger station using four-wheeled drive pickups with chains. The ranger station usually closes after Thanksgiving, but if the snows persist, it could close earlier.

Developed ski areas don’t open for several weeks yet. Whitefish Mountain Resort is scheduled to open Dec. 7, and Blacktail Mountain Resort is scheduled to open Dec. 17.