December 26, 2015

Hi Wayne

A day or two old Sa slide off of a convexity on the west facing slopes of Cowboy Ridge (11 am Dec 25 photo). Otherwise, no other obvious activity and outstanding Xmas pow turns.

Thanks for the great blog and happy holidays, 

Lawrence McIntosh  Someone mentioned December 23, Wednesday was when it happened.

    First light Christmas Morning, December 25, 2015.

    It was another awesome morning!!

    Loose snow avalanche off Spearhead Ridge.

    There was quite a bit of cloud around on Friday.

    Blackcomb mountain under the full moon.

    Whistler Mountain under the full moon.


Weather Observations for December 26, 2015: taken at 06:00 Hours.

2240 meters   -13, Winds were 25-35 KPH S           --Horstman Hut Station
2180 meters   -13, Winds were 25-30 KPH SSW     --Whistler Peak
1860 meters   -11, Winds were 10-20  KPH E          --Rendevous
1835 meters   -11, Winds were 10-20 KPH SSW     --Roundhouse
1650 meters   -10, 1 cm of new snow, 1 cm in 24 hours 181 cm Base, Relative Humidity 88%  --Pig Alley
1550 meters   -11, trace of new snow, 134 cm Base        --Catskinner 

  660 meters   -10, Valley Temp, Max Temp Yesterday was -1.0. 0 mm of precipitation recorded

With the wind at the peak expect wind chill index to be around -23 early this am, get out the down!!!

    As of 07:00 Hours we have high overcast and unlimited visibility.



For the forecast, a weak upper level trough will bring mostly cloudy dry conditions to the area for today in a Westerly flow aloft. Flurries may start later this morning, with light snowfall by this evening. The weak front will continue into Sunday with light snowfall expected throughout the day. Monday will be unsettled as a strong upper level ridge begins to build for most of the week. Some clouds are expected Tuesday as the low spins some cloud our way but it looks dry. The high amplitude ridge will also bring warmer air to the area by Wednesday with the Freezing level rising to around 1000 meters. Guesstimates: 3-5 cm by Sunday morning, 8-12 cm by Monday morning.

    Cloud moving through today with some light snow later in the day.

    Slow moving front will be here on Sunday as well.

    Ridge of high pressure will be with us most of the week.





ARTICLES:

Two Snowmobilers buried on Teton Pass: Wyoming

Stay in bounds and be aware of avalanche danger: North Shore SAR

Very happy we do not have this avalanche problem: Utah

    Everything was opened early X-Mas morning.

    Power flurry yesterday afternoon.

   Heli-Ski turns off Phalnax Ridge.

    Shadow on Alta Lake.

    Full Moon.

    It was very bright last night.!!