March 18, 2014

                         Avalanche has killed 2 people in Zermatt, story in article section below.

    Blue bird first thing yesterday morning.

    Clouds moved in very quickly, Na (natural avalanche)  near Miller Ridge yesterday.

    Snow was very nice.

    Days end, mostly cloudy in our zone. March 17, 2014.

    Sunrise from the top of Flute March 17, 2014.                                              Ryan Bougie Photo

Weather observations for March 18, 2014; taken at 06:00 hrs this am.

2240 meters      -9. Winds were 5-15 KPH from the W
2180 meters      -7, Winds were 20-30 KPH from the W
1860 meters      -7, Winds were 5-10 KPH from the S
1835 meters      -7, Winds were 5-15 KPH from the W
1650 meters      -5, No new snow, Base 268 cm
1550 meters      -5, No new snow, Base 211 cm
  660 meters      -1, Valley Temperature; Max temp yesterday +6

For the forecast a cold front is slowly moving down the coast associated with a Northwest flow aloft. Mostly cloudy skies today with the chance of some snow flurries. The flow will shift  today to more Westerly and an associated warm front will move in during the day, this will be followed by another cold front for Wednesday. Unsettled showery weather will prevail for Thursday. A long wave ridge will build into the area for Friday affecting the area for the weekend, some disagreement in the models so more on the weekend forecast later. Guesstimates 6-8 cm by Wednesday morning, 10-15 cm for Thursday morning, 4-6 cm during the day on Thursday. Freezing levels will fluctuate between fronts in a range from 600-1000 meters.

Presently mostly cloudy skies and variable visibility.

Yesterday in the corridor there were size 1-2 avalanches Xe, Sc, Na, and Sr.

    Cloudy at the time the satellite image was taken, 16:00 hrs. front moving down the coast.

    Image from same time satellite picture was taken.

    Lots of moisture out in the Pacific.



News clip on 1 week burial of father and son: Lake Louise

Calgary man succumbs to his injuries Sunday night after burial on Saturday: Banff National Park

Zermatt avalanche takes 2 lives: Switzerland

Epic snowmobile crash: Live Leak

Eight deaths in one week spark warnings from avalanche expert: CAC

Skier injured after SW Colorado avalanche: Telluride

Slope by slope-hour by hour: CAC Forecasters Blog

Unstable snow pack keeps avalanche risk high in the Rockies: Calgary Herald

Very large slab avalanche, submission from Yves Wanger, think its in : Norway

    1-3 mm surface hoar  yesterday morning.

    Skier Remote (Sr), skied in  behind cornice creating a size 2 avalanche.

    Sr looking up at the cornice line.

   Sc size 1 sled skiers on Miller Ridge.

    Ashlu Mountain in the distance.

    Sc size 2 Pemberton Ice cap. Nasty terrain trap.

    Na (natural avalanche) Size 1 yesterday morning, East facing slope solar warming.