13 Mar 2013

It was snowing 4 cm an hour yesterday morning from 06:30 to 09:30.

13 cm on the board at Catskinner weather Plot during the 3 hours.


At 2240 meters the temperature was -2, winds were 40-80 KPH from the W. At Pig Alley 1650 meters the temperature was +1, 11 cm of new snow fell there overnight. In the valley it was +4. Observations taken at 06:00 Hrs.

For the forecast we can expect the warm air mass to continue with waves of precipitation. Freezing level went a little higher than thought yesterday (1700 M). Today that could reach 1850 meters. The warm front should move out of our zone Thursday into Friday with a cooler and unstable air mass here for the weekend. An upper level trough should pass through on Friday with expected ridging for Saturday. There are some discrepancies in the ECMWF and the GFS Models. Hard to put any snow amounts out there because of the freezing level. The heavy precipitation we experienced last night should ease off for the remainder of the day with light to moderate rain below 1700 meters. The warm front will bring heavy precipitation into our area again later today into tomorrow morning. Expect 8-10 cm at the upper elevations today.



For the Local Updated Avalanche Advisory: Whistler Mountain Snow Safety



Dave Aikens awarded for avalanche work: Fernie BC

Skiers Boarders urged to be safe for Spring Break: EMBC & CAC

European Snowstorm causing issues: Northwestern Europe

Canadian Arctic Glacier Melt Accelerating, Irreversible, Projections Suggest: Science Daily


In the valley the snow warmed up by 10:30. Slowly creeping off this roof.


Even at 2000 meters it became wet by 13:00 Hrs. Maximum temp -1 at Horstman Hut around 14:00 Hrs.


Roof avalanches started around this time!


Combination of warm snow and 50KPH winds made this pattern in the snow.

March 11, 2013 in the afternoon.

March 12, 2013 in the morning.


Some observations and pictures from Ross Mailoux, Thanks for the submissions:


Hi Wayne,

Thanks for all your info and pictures, great beta and info.

Shots from a recent tour to the peak Immediately SE of Cassiope. We skied a nice long N facing run into valley bottom from this peak and enjoyed 3rd buckle powder from top to bottom.

Of note was the large cycle last weekend, in this area seemingly entirely on S - SSE - SE aspects. The largest propagation was probably 400m wide. The entire E face of Cassiope pulled out as well. 

Cheers, Ross