March 20, 2015

    08:30 Thursday March 19, 2015. Snowing and blowing.

    Fairly wet in the valley but at least it was snowing in the alpine.

    Valley perspective yesterday morning.

    By 13:00 hours the snow line dropped down to 900 meters.

    Dried out after 14:00 hours yesterday afternoon.

    Later in the day on Thursday.

    Some breaks by 18:00 hours yesterday evening.


Weather Observations for March 20, 2015; taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters     -2, Winds were 45-60 KPH from the SSE
2180 meters     -1, Winds were 35-60 KPH from the S
1860 meters     -1, Winds were 20-35 KPH from the E
1835 meters    +1, Winds were 20-50 KPH from the ESE
1650 meters    +1, 4 cm of new snow, 21 cm in 24 hours, Base 166 cm
1550 meters      0, 5 cm of new snow, Base 125 cm,  Relative Humidity 100%. 

  660 meters    +3, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +5.9, 14.3 mm up to Midnight 

    As of 07:00 Hours we have obscured skies and limited visibility. Snowing less than 1 cm per hr.


For the forecast, a warm moist frontal band will bring moderate precipitation to the area this morning with the Freezing Level rising to 2000 meters by this afternoon in a Southwesterly flow.  We may see a lull in the precipitation sometime this morning but we should see it ramp back up and bring moderate to heavy precipitation into this evening. A cold front will pass through the area later in the day and we should see the FL drop to around 1600 meters by the evening.  An upper level trough will bring cloudy conditions for Saturday with light precipitation expected through the day. A very weak upper level ridge will build Saturday night into early Sunday with mostly cloudy skies, some breaks and the chance of some isolated showers with a FL hovering around 1300 meters. A weak cold front will bring some light snow to the area Sunday evening. Early next week we will see a showery cool weather pattern with FL dropping to as low as 1000 meters and hovering around 1300 meters.
Guesstimates: 20-30 cm above 1800 meters by Saturday morning.  5-10 cm above 1300 meters during the day Saturday. 5-8 cm by Monday morning.

    Satellite image from yesterday morning when it was snowing.

    Big picture from yesterday afternoon.

   Westerly flow by this afternoon should ramp up the precipitation amounts.

    Moisture levels for today.

    Cold front moving onshore later in the day should drop the Freezing level to around 1600 meters.

    Upper level shortwave trough moving through on Monday.


Video Friday's:

Skier triggers an avalanche at Fairy lake: Bridger Range, Montana

Snowmobiler sets off scary avalanche: Hesperus, CO

Complete burial and rescue: Transceivers ??

What ski patrol does while you're sleeping: Mammoth Mountain

Freeride World Qualifier: Nendaz Freeride


Articles:

Warning issued about increased avalanche risk in Western Newfoundland: Avalanche Canada

'Ozone' Dave Clark and the Big Iron Shootout: Revelstoke Times

Where to find the worlds best ski conditions: Jim Steenburgh

Arctic sea ice extent hits record low for winter maximum: The Guardian

    Spring has sprung and the crowds are here for snow. First day of spring: March 20, 2015

    For a brief period yesterday around 13:30 Hours it was snowing in the valley.

    Snow accumulating at 800 meters.