More Snow?

The last storm did not deliver the punch advertised around here unfortunately. Although it was snowy in the mountains it wasn't heavy. Snotel's at Lost Trail, Lolo and Twin Lakes reported only 4-6 inches, a far cry from the 1-2 feet which didn't provide enough to push the base over the top. It was cold and the moisture content of the snow was low which resulted in more of a dust on breakable crust/slab situation. Colin confirmed this point on his Gash Point trip on Friday the 19th. He skied the North and South bowls and experienced chunkiness underneath the new snow and was still hitting ground. He also said the skiing was tough because of a breakable layer underneath the new snow. Paul, the bartender at the Bitterroot Brewery, had a similar experience from his Thursday and Friday outings somewhere around Lost Trail. And yet another group reported to Colin that Camas Peak was a disaster trying to ski as boulders were finding ski bases. The valley received ~1 inch of snow out of it too so things seemed to have really happened to the Northwest with Spokane topping out the snow reports at 37 inches as of Friday! Dave Morris said he's never seen so much snow there. We'll see what the next one brings:

Winter Storm WarningURGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT

323 AM MST SUN DEC 21 2008
NORTHERN CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS-SOUTHERN CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS-

BITTERROOT/SAPPHIRE MOUNTAINS-

323 AM MST SUN DEC 21 2008 /223 AM PST SUN DEC 21 2008/

...WINTER STORM WARNING NOW IN EFFECT FROM 8 AM MST /7 AM PST/THIS MORNING TO 11 AM MST /10 AM PST/ MONDAY... THE WINTER STORM WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT FROM 8 AM MST /7 AM PST/ THIS MORNING TO 11 AM MST /10 AM PST/ MONDAY.SNOW WILL DEVELOP ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO AND INTO BITTERROOTMOUNTAINS OF WEST-CENTRAL WESTERN MONTANA THIS MORNING. SNOW WILLBECOME MODERATE AT TIMES THIS AFTERNOON AND OVERNIGHT TONIGHT. BY MONDAY MORNING...SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 TO 12 INCHES ARE ANTICIPATED...WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS OVER AREA PEAKS BY LATER MONDAY MORNING. TRAVEL WILL BECOME PARTICULARLY HAZARDOUS OVER LOLO PASS DURING THIS TIME. A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW IS EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE.