7 Apr 2013


Slab avalanche Wednesleydale, North Yorkshire, England; approximately 100 meters across; crown 20 cm to 1 meter deep lookers left of fracture line; 2-3 days old.  Photo taken April 6, 2013 by Alastair Collis.

10 cm of moist snow bonding well to wet round grains just below tree line south facing isothermal snow pack 1800 meters and lower. Yesterday.

Snow curl on a wind swept area at 1850 meters.

At 2240 meters the temperature was -8, winds were 5-20 KPH from the NE. At 1650 meters the temperature was -4, there was 3 cm of new snow there last night. In the valley it is +1. Observations taken at 06:00 Hrs this Am. Much cooler last night, will be interesting to see what the cold temperatures will do to the moist snow pack below 1800 meters?

For the forecast, a low pressure system south of us will bring mostly cloudy skies today with the occasional flurry. An offshore ridge will follow this evening bringing sunny skies tomorrow with some cloud and possible flurries. A warm front will move in Tuesday morning bringing us some precipitation followed by a cold front for early Thursday morning. Zonal flow for Wednesday through Friday with unsettled conditions and cooler temperatures. Freezing levels will spike on Wednesday to about 1800 meters then drop to 400 meters on Friday night. Guesstimates Occasional flurries until Tuesday night. 10-15 cm by Wednesday at 14:30, 4-6 cm by Thursday at 14:30, 10-12 cm by Friday at 14:30. These numbers will likely change as the week unfolds.


For the updated local avalanche advisory: Blackcomb Snow Safety

Size 1-2.5 avalanches in our area yesterday from ski testing and explosive testing.


Elkford, BC Spring Avalanches: Dootalk.com

Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Centre, Saturday, April 6, 2013: GNFAC

Wet Snow Avalanche Footage: Avalanche Guys


Lots of small pockets of soft slab on steep slopes yesterday. There were up to size 2.5 Xe reported yesterday.

At tree line, evidence of how warm it was prior to the snow yesterday morning.

In the valley the snow has melted very quickly. Temperatures have not been recovering to the negative side for at least a week. Normally we would have lows of -1 to -3 this time of the year.


There were some sunny breaks yesterday afternoon. The satellite images from yesterday depict the breaks we did have yesterday.