Mount Rainier National Park got its first full taste of winter earlier this week. While the park has received several dustings of snow already this fall, almost a foot of snow fell at Paradise Monday and Tuesday, according to data from the Paradise weather station.

Park visitors need to remember that the road to Paradise is closed each night just past Longmire. It reopens each morning once snowplows have completed removing any new snow.

The status of four park roads, scheduled to close for the winter on Sunday, is day to day through the weekend. Mowich Lake, Paradise Valley and Stevens Canyon roads, plus the White River Road to the campground are to close Sunday.

The Westside Road is to remain open to the Dry Creek parking area through Nov. 15, as long as the weather cooperates. For road status updates, check www.nps.gov/mora or call 360-569-2211.

The Longmire General Store has switched to its summer hours.

The store is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The store has gifts and basic groceries, plus snowshoe rentals.

Busy season at Sunrise: Julia Pinnix, the park’s East District area interpreter, said there were 51 people who volunteered for the Sunrise Meadow Rover program this season. The volunteers contacted 10,541 park visitors, Pinnix said. Among the busiest volunteers were David Howerton, who spent 255 hours at Sunrise and contacted 1,575 visitors. Gary Knudson and Martha Scoville spent 1661/2 hours each and contacted 883 visitors. Pete Sabin spent 126 hours and contacted 444 visitors, while Dan Purnell spent 1071/2 hours at the park, contacting 515 visitors.

Jeffrey P. Mayor, The News Tribune