December 19, 2015

    Line up yesterday morning was tolerable.

    Powder turns right to the valley Friday December 18, 2015.

    There were some nice breaks yesterday morning.

    There were some great turns to be had!!

    Snowing moderately at around 13:00 Hours.

    Power Flurry.

    Snowing at 16:30 yesterday.



Weather Observations for December 19, 2015: taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters     -9, Winds were 30-40 KPH SSE    --Horstman Hut Station
2180 meters     -9, Winds were 20-35 KPH S         --Whistler Peak
1860 meters     -8, Winds were 15-25 KPH E         --Rendevous
1835 meters     -7, Winds were 15-30 KPH SE       --Roundhouse
1650 meters     -5, 9 cm of new, 14 cm in 24 hours 177 cm Base, Relative Humidity 92%  --Pig Alley
1550 meters     -6, 7 cm of new,12 cm in 24 hours 142 cm Base    --Catskinner 

  660 meters     -1, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was +1.1. 12.8 mm of precipitation recorded.

Avalanche control yesterday produced Sz 1-2 mostly Sz 1.5 ssl, Xe, Xl, Sc, Sr in the new snow.

    As of 07:00 Hours this am we have overcast skies, variable visibility with flurries.



For the forecast, another Pacific Frontal system will move onshore later today with strong winds and a freezing level hovering near the valley bottom in a Westerly flow. The brunt of the snowfall will occur this evening into Sunday morning.  FL could reach up to 850 meters by Sunday morning, then drop back down to the valley. A series of fronts in a cold Northwesterly Flow will bring light snowfall to the area Sunday into Wednesday. Likely see an increase in the snow fall by Wednesday evening. Bring it on!!
Guesstimates: 20-25 cm by Sunday morning, 10-15 cm by Monday morning, 10-15 cm by Tuesday morning.

    Moisture on its way for later in the day.

    Saturday night into Sunday morning.

    A series of fronts expected into next week.





ARTICLES:

Vancouver Island Adventurer Seekers warned of Avalanche Risk: CBC

6 injured, several unaccounted for after an avalanche hits rural community: Norway

Snow Conditions in the French Alps: Pistehors.com

A note from a regular reader: December 18, 2015.

Ski cut a small slide today in Whistler Bowl, maybe size 0.5. But had I been caught in it the consequences could have been fatal. The slide ran for 50m and the debris stacked up about 1.5m against some small trees. Burial and trauma would have been likely. To make matters worse I was by myself.
Moral, always ski with a buddy.

    Some breaks yesterday but we still received 5cm by 14:00 Hours.

    Most of the good stuff went South.

    Great skiing to the valley yesterday morning.

    Ski Tourers on Lower Disease Ridge.

    Groomers have been busy.

    Wind gusts yesterday morning were creating a stiff slab in some areas.

    Great snow in the 7 Th Heaven Zone yesterday.