March 4, 2015

    Austrian Alps claims an Australian women caught in an avalanche, story below.               Net Pic

    Tuesday morning March 3, 2015. Snow guns blazing on both mountains.

    There were many guns pumping out the white stuff yesterday morning.

    Lots of snow being made on Lower Mainline on Blackcomb.

    Ribbon to the town centre looks great, people were saying it was skiing well.

    Just before sunset on Tuesday evening.


Weather Observations for March 4, 2015; taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters     -4, Winds were 5-10 KPH from the SE
2180 meters     -3, Winds were 5-10 KPH from the NW
1860 meters     -4, Winds were 5-15 KPH from the E
1835 meters     -5, Winds were 0-5 KPH from the E
1650 meters     -7, no new snow, Base 145 cm
1550 meters     -5, no new snow, Base 109 cm,  Relative Humidity 52%.

  660 meters     -7, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +5.7.

   As of 07:00 Hours we have some high cirrus cloud and unlimited visibility.

For the forecast, upper level ridging and low level offshore flow will bring another sunny warm day to the area in a Northerly flow. Winds have diminished and the freezing level will rise to 1600 meters this afternoon.  A very weak short wave trough will brush our zone Thursday through Friday morning bringing clouds to the area before a weak ridge brings unsettled weather for the weekend. Freezing levels may rise as high as 2000 meters through this cloudy period which will be in much warmer air mass.  We may see some cirrus cloud development at times. Long term, there appears to be a shift in the pattern with cloudier and warm wet conditions expected Sunday into Monday. Models are in disagreement during this period with some trending toward a dry sunny weekend.  The GFS model is trending toward snow for next Tuesday through Thursday in the upper elevations. Time will tell. More on that as we get closer.

    High cirrus cloud in the area yesterday.

    Big picture from yesterday before noon.

    Upper level ridging and low level off shore flow will maintain dry and milder conditions today.

       Ridge flattens on Thursday with more of a Westerly flow. Warm unsettled weather on its way.

ARTICLES:

Australian women killed, man critically injured in an avalanche in Austria: Landeck District

Despite headlines avalanche death toll falls: Swissinfo.ch

Avalanche in India kills two people: Himichal, Pradesh

Three army personnel killed in an avalanche near Chiyalekh: Indian-Nepal Border

Mammut wants to keep you safe in avalanche terrain: REI

Large snowfall equals avalanche in Orelle: Val Thornes, France

Impressive avalanches in the Pyrenees: Pistehors.com

    See more and more of this around the valley.

    Snow making right to the valley floor yesterday morning.

    Haulback just above the Fitzsimmons Bridge on Blackcomb.

    At this rate you will be able to ski to the valley for a golf game.