April 17, 2014

    Snow was falling on lower Cruiser yesterday morning.

    It was moist at 1300 meters, but the skiing first thing in the morning was nice.

    Flurries, to steady light snow above 1600 meters most of the day.

    Became unsettled by 16:30 hours April 16, 2014. Warm air aloft yesterday afternoon.




Weather observations for April 17, 2014; taken at 06:00 Hrs.

2240 meters      -4, Winds were 40-55 KPH from the S
2180 meters      -3, Winds were 40-55 KPH from the S
1860 meters      -3, Winds were 20-40 KPH from the SSE
1835 meters      -2, Winds were 20-50 KPH from the S
1650 meters       0, 6 cm of new snow, 9 cm in 24 hrs, Base 242 cm
1550 meters      -1, 5 cm of new snow, 5 cm in 24 hrs, Base 195 cm
  660 meters     +4, Valley Temperature, 3.9 mm of precip yest



For the forecast, moisture will continue in a Westerly Flow, driven by the strong upper level low in the Gulf of Alaska.  Cloudy conditions for today with light snow in the upper elevations. The cold front will move through later this evening. In its wake a weak upper level high tries to develop for Friday, expect unsettled conditions with the possibility of flurries in a Southerly Flow. Overall confidence in the models for the weekend period is low. More on that tomorrow. It appears another front will move in Saturday with moderate snowfall forecasted for Saturday evening into Sunday morning.  A series of fronts are likely arriving Sunday into Tuesday. Guesstimates 8-10 cm by Friday morning, 8-10 cm by Sunday morning, 1-3 cm by Monday morning. Freezing level should drop to around 1300 meters tonight and average out at about 1200 meters over the weekend.

                           As of 07:00 Hrs this am we have overcast skies with variable visibility.


Yesterday in the valley there were numerous size .5 to some size 1 ssl, rising freezing levels also produced snowballing with Sc.

    Satellite image from yesterday morning.

    Big picture from yesterday with significant moisture in the Eastern Pacific.

    Fairly strong low scheduled for Saturday should bring some snow again Sunday.



Skier vs Avalanche: Go Pro

One of the deadliest winters in years: Norway

Summary of 2013-2014 Winter Conditions in the Alps: Pistehors.com

EAWS SnoProfiler: European Avalanche Warning Services
Data base of snow profiles.

FWT announcing only one North American Stop in 2014/2015.: Future of FWT uncertain??

Snowblower-Rescue from the avalanche: Fonna Glacier Resort, Norway

Intensification of Pacific Storm track linked to Asian Pollution: National Academy of Sciences

   A gaggle of snow guns waiting until next season!

    During the day yesterday with the rising freezing levels only 1 cm was recorded at 1550 meters
    14:30 hrs. Max temp yesterday at 1550 meters was +2 at 13:45, max temp at 1650 meters on  
    Whistler was +4.5 at 14:15 hrs.

                                     The sun tried to come out several times on Wednesday.