Wayne Flann Avalanche Blog: April 22, 2105

Nice colour, sunrise Tuesday April 21, 2015.

Sunrise yesterday was at 06:07 Hours. Gaining 3 minutes of daylight per day.

Mostly cloudy in Whistler early yesterday morning.

The only cloud to our South yesterday at 07:00 Hours.

Clear to the South, clouds moved in from the Northwest yesterday morning.

Great clouds before the front arrived yesterday morning in Squamish.

By mid morning the clouds thickened in Squamish.

Overcast skies in Whistler yesterday afternoon. 15:00 Hours.

Weather Observations for April 22, 2015; taken at 06:00 Hours.

2180 meters -7, Winds were 20-40 KPH from the SSW
1835 meters -5, Winds were 20-40 KPH from the SSW
1650 meters -3, 5 cm of new snow, Base 179 cm, relative humidity is 93 %

660 meters +3, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +16. 2.9 mm of precip recorded on Tuesday.

Spring Hours are now in effect, Whistler opens at 10:00 Am and closes at 04:00 Pm for the remainder of the season.

As of 07:00 Hours this Am at 1835 meters we have overcast skies and unlimited visibility.

At 2180 meters we have obscured skies and limited visibility.

For the forecast, a weak upper trough follows in the wake of the cold front with cool unstable air aloft and mainly cloudy conditions early this morning. There is a chance of some intermittent showers this morning before a very weak surface high brings unsettled weather this afternoon into this evening. The freezing level today will fluctuate from a high of 1500 meters to a low of 1000 meters. The Southwesterly flow will bring another weak frontal band to the area on Thursday into Friday with light to moderate precipitation with a slightly lower FL on Thursday (1400-800 meters) then rising to (1800-1000 meters) for Friday. As of now Saturday is looking unsettled into Sunday with a stronger warm front moving onshore for Sunday evening. The front on Monday will likely bring moderate precipitation to the area with the FL rising 2500 meters. Guesstimates: trace to 1 cm for today above 1200 meters, 8-12 cm for Friday morning above 1000 meters, 4-8 cm by Saturday morning above 1200 meters.

Cold front has moved East.

Next front arrives early Thursday morning.

Moist for Friday with the front exiting Friday evening.

Warm front moves onshore Sunday evening.

ARTICLES:

Spring Scenarios: Avalanche Canada

Body found where an avalanche came down: Norway

A Tale between two Systems: Avalanche Canada

U.S. Weather prediction capability on the decline: Cliff Mass

Thanks to Neil for the Intel:

Hi Wayne,

Spent the weekend skiing from Garibaldi Lake to Brohm Ridge via Burton Hut -> Sphinx Pass -> Glacier Pikes -> Warren Glacier. We crossed Garibaldi Lake on Saturday morning without any issues, though we were careful not to enter/exit the lake near significant creeks as the ice was very thin near running water. There is a large section of open water on Garibaldi Lake in Sentinel Bay (where the creek enters) which is going to make it difficult (impossible?) to exit the Névé by crossing the lake. With this heat, I wouldn’t expect you can ski across the lake for much longer.

Observed several slab avalanches which likely occurred during last weeks cold fronts. Attached a few photos of slides of interest:

1. Three separate slabs (upper two are hard to see) near the Sphinx. Slide paths ran across the upper ramp used to access the Bookworms.

2. Slab avalanche just below the Shark Fin.

Thanks for all the great information all winter long. Hope the leg has healed up well. Have a great summer.

Cheers

Neil Perk